


The Constellation

by Lady_R



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Also no Papyton, Alternate Universe - Fellswap, Alternate Universe - Horrortale, Alternate Universe - Negativetale, Alternate Universe - Outertale, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underkeep, Alternate Universe - Underlust, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Alternate universe - Wastelandfell, And UT!Mettaton is Furiosa, Basically Mad Max Fury Road with different Mettaton, Basically the first mega Mettaton-centric crossover, Blindfolds, Blood and Gore, Bullying, But I'm not into robotic smut, But is also brave and strong, Except UnderKeep!MTT: he's the worst, HorrorTale Mettaton, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Depression, Implied/Referenced Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Maybe some minor cuddling and kisses, Mettaton Cries A Lot, Mettaton EX, Multi, NegativeTale Mettaton, No Smut, OuterTale Mettaton - Freeform, Post-Pacifist, Sorry Not Sorry, They will suffer, Torture, UnderKeep Mettaton, UnderLust Mettaton - Freeform, Underfell Mettaton, WastelandFell Mettaton, all Mettatons are equally beautiful, mettacest - Freeform, underswap mettaton - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:19:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10024457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_R/pseuds/Lady_R
Summary: One day, nine gorgeous entertainment androids are all dragged to the same location somewhere on the Surface against their will.They don't know where they are, but what awaits them may be their doom. The only way out is to work together.A king who thinks he has everything in control.A shy singer, always living in the shadow of his famous cousin.A gentle soul that wouldn't harm a fly and is always happy to help.A prostitute looking for a way out.A silent being that has seen nothing but horrors in his life.A creature living among stars, ready to fight for his life.A young, timid TV host that has a dark secret behind him.A gloomy, fragile "freak" who never asked to be made.And a confident, determined celebrity that will have to take the lead.





	1. Eight done, one to go

**Fell:**

I am roughly awoken when the thick, black sack that was covering my head is removed with a sharp movement. They’re back! My eyes roam the room. I try not to scream. It will not be worth it anyway: there’s a piece of cloth inside my mouth, and a string of duct tape stuck over it. 

They’re here. The people who took me. Their names are Papyrus and Sans, they are brothers. I wish I had a brother too. I feel so lonely all the time. There is a third man with them. A human, it seems. I wonder why they are not killing him. He wears a green suit with some funny patterns. Maybe he is here to help me, but I doubt it. No one ever helps me. "Just as promised." Papyrus says to the man. "Does it please you?"

"Of course it does." he answers. "It surely is a nice specimen. And he’ll do even better in battle."

Battle? What do they mean? I am so scared, I want to go home. Mom will be angry if I do not return home in time. She hates it. She will use the wrench on my back, and it will hurt. The taller skeleton chuckles loudly, displaying his sharp white fangs. 

"You’re sold, Mettaton. Now this nice fella here will take you away."

"That’s right." Sans grins. "No one will miss you anyway. Who knows, maybe they’ll think that you’ve finally decided to off yourself. Won’t they, Boss?"

"They sure will." Papyrus pats his brother’s head with his gloved hand. I wish someone caressed me too like this. No one likes me anyway. I choke up a sob, struggling against the ropes. 

"It’s all yours." Papyrus says to the man. "Take it. Do whatever you want. And don’t forget to come back… we can give you even more monsters, as long as you keep paying us."

The man I don’t know walks towards me. Before I can even react, he grabs me by the hair and straps a choker around my neck. It has blue, red and white stripes. It looks pretty, but it doesn’t match well with my yellow gloves. I groan in pain.

"Shut it, you tin can." Papyrus hisses. He takes off his glove and slaps me in the face. It hurts, ut I stay quiet this time. "Finally, we’ll get rid of you. The Underground will rejoice."

Tears roll on my cheeks. Papyrus always said that I am his property. But I thought I was being a good property, at least. Quiet, obedient, gentle. Maybe that was not enough.

I choke up a new sob. Papyrus and Sans undo the ropes that tied me to a metal ring on the ground. My four hands are still bound behind my back, but at least I can get up. Then they cover my head again. Not that it matters: even before, I could barely see through the curtain of tears that floods my stupid ugly face. Four eyes can cry pretty hard, I know from personal experience. Maybe they really are better off a worthless crybaby like me. The thought causes me to cry even harder. I sob in the gag, just wanting to disappear. 

_I never asked to be made._

 

**Swap:**

Are they gone?

I peep my head from behind the corner. They’re coming, I see them from feet afar. This alley won’t hide me for long. I sit on the ground behind a trash can, trying my best to keep myself from shaking.

Where did they come from? Two humans in green uniforms. It’s me they are chasing after. 

I grab my phone from my cardigan’s pocket. My hands shake as I dial the Captain of the Guards’ number. She was supposed to be here and rescue me. Maybe she couldn’t make it in time… oh, please, let it not be true. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. 

"Alphys! Alphys, where are you?"

Her voice comes out of the receiver interspersed by huffs. 

"I’m… I’m at the CORE. I’m coming. It’ll… it’ll be ok!"

 _Calm down, Mettaton. She’s coming to get you. She’ll rescue you_. I shroud myself in my cardigan and scarf, trying to breathe. 

"Where’s Blooky?" I ask again. 

"He…" her voice cracks for a moment, causing me to gasp. "He’s busy right now… he’ll be in the studio all day… his phone is… is off, you know."

"Yes, A-Alphys… I know."

I knew it, after all. A star like him has many things at hand: I should be grateful for the time he dedicates to me. Instead, I keep wanting more. Such ungratefulness. 

It’s no time to think about Blooky anyway. I need to protect myself. Before…

"There he is."

"He has cornered himself. It’ll be easy-peasy."

The phone slips away from my hand and crashes on the ground. I lift my fists in front of my face, like I was able to put up a fight. And I can’t. There’s two of them… two humans. I don’t know how they got here, but they’re after me. And Alphys isn’t here. Please… let it not be, please…

"Help!- I wail. -Hel…"

"Shut it!" one of the humans throws himself on me placing a hand on my mouth. "We don’t need attention."

The other human cowers on me, pulling out a choker from his pocket. "Hold him tight."

Alphys, where are you? Alphys… even though I don’t have lungs I feel like I’m suffocating. The human that’s keeping me still grabs my scarf and stuffs it in my mouth; regardless, I try to scream.

"No one will hear you." the standing human says. "Say goodbye to this place, because you’re coming with us."

I try to envision Alphys coming from the corner, waving her axe towards my captors and setting me free. Or Blooky… maybe he has presented something… maybe he feels that I’m in danger.

But he doesn’t. I’m alone, yet again. 

 

**Lust:**

I enter the changing room slamming my door behind me. 

"Another empty audience…"

I feel discomforted, like the air around me is composed entirely of toxic fumes. My reflection stares back at me with one saddened, humid pink eye. My hair look like an unshed bush. Why do I even look like this? 

Alphys won’t come to get me until late. Tonight, she and Undyne are off to yet another of their sessions. The mere thought grosses me out. I hate this stupid perverted world. Sex, sex, nothing but sex. And those who aren’t into it, like me, get punished for it. 

Alphys always says I should be less touchy, but I can’t help it. She knows why I act like this anyway. And even with all her empathy (and she IS indeed one of the most emphatic monsters in this horny hellhole of a world) she’ll never understand.

I look at my reflection again, trying to fix at least something up. I wipe my glasses’ lenses on my leggings. I adjust the shape of my bowtie. I arrange the curve of my curls in an attempt to look a bit less like a confused scarecrow. _It’s ok, Mettaton. One day, someone will love you like you need._

Suddenly, I hear a knock at the door. It has to be the daily fanmail delivery. 

Why do I get so much mail? Nobody ever comes to my shows. I shrug. I’m not interested in reading it anyway. There’s a limit of “pretty ass” “sexy” and “love machine” I can suffer through, and today I don’t feel like it.

I open the door anyway. It won’t be polite to leave them waiting out there. I take the mail, throw it away and stay for a while. It won’t be hard.

But outside the door the mailman doesn’t wait for me. Instead, I see something that looks like two human dressed in green.

"Get him." one of them says. 

What?! “Fight, Mettaton”, I tell myself. “Fight back.”. But I’m completely frozen. Memories flash in front of my eyes like blade strikes. Five monsters in the shadows, grabbing me from behind… cornering me in a dark alley… I feel the coldness of the asphalt against my chest. 

Suddenly, I realize I’m lying face down on the floor. They’ve tackled me, and now… now one of them is cuffing my hands behind my back.. oh, no. No, no, no! Not again, please, no!

The darkness engulfs me, pulling me away into unconsciousness. 

 

**Outer:**

"It’s a nice night, isn’t it?"

Alphys and I are sitting side by side, gazing at the backdrop of stars that surrounds us like a warm comforter. It was a busy day for both of us, but an upgrade as complicated as that required a certain amount of effort. And it was worth it anyway.

"It is quite remarkable." I tell her. "You know I’m quite into stars."

Alphys chuckles. "Mettaton, Star among Stars. The brightest in the Galaxy."

She curls up by my side, resting her tender head on my hip. 

Suddenly, she lifts her head. "Oh!". Then, she looks up at me and chokes a scream in her hands.

"Oh… oh my gosh!"

I don’t know how that happened, but… somehow, I’m floating. My body has lifted itself up from the ground, soaring in the air like a fallen leaf. Before I know it, I’m upside down. My cape swings behind my back like a flag. Alphys’ hand slips away from mine. I float above her, an inch above her, then two, three, five… Despite my fear I manage to scream: "What’s happening?"

"I don’t know!" Even though we’re so distant, I can hear her voice crack; it rekindles my fear.

"Help, me! Alphys, please! Help!"

She can’t help me. I know it. We’ve been living out there for years, but no monster has ever floated away from the ground into outer space. She’s as clueless as me, and it means I’m in big trouble.

I must be more than ten inches off into space, now. I see Alphys lifting her hands towards me as if she could catch me. But she can’t, we both know it.

"I will find you!" I hear her shout at me. "I promise!"

"Alphys!" All I see now is a yellow spot sticking out in the dark soil of the Outerground, and even that is fading away from me. "No! No, no, nooo!"

I struggle, flailing my arms, kicking against the nothingness. I can’t see her anymore from here. I can’t even distinguish her shape, or her color. It’s so dark it takes my breath away. 

"HELP!"

She’s gone. Chills shake me and cause me to curl up in a ball, wrapping myself in my cape like a cocoon. She’s gone, and I’m… lost, in the middle of nowhere, unable to even see around myself. I can’t even see the gold patterns on my cape. I used to love to watch them glisten.

Then, I realize my arms are stuck to my chest. A force, it seems, keeps them there, and I recognize it. A magnet! We should have known! 

Why is there a magnet in space, let alone one big and strong enough to pull me away like this, I don’t know. But regardless, it seems like my situation is yet to improve.

I pull myself tighter in my cape, close my eyes and prepare myself to fight for my life. 

 

**Negative:**

I open the door. Alphys is waiting for me in her lab. She’s wearing her usual black suit and red tie. I immediately race towards her with open arms. No better way to start a conversation than a hug.

"No, Mettaton." she hisses, lifting her arm towards me. "Not today."

"Oh… ok.". I walk backwards to the middle of the room. Maybe she’s feeling sick and doesn’t want to infect me. Then I notice the two tall men standing behind her. Wait, are those…

"These nice fellas are here for you." Alphys says. "They will take you to a beautiful, beautiful place."

The two humans walk towards me. For some reason it startles me. _Bad robot, bad robot. You don’t judge people before even talking to them._

"Do you want a hug?" I ask them, opening my arms to greet them. But they completely ignore me. Suddenly they grab me from behind and tackle me to the ground. My hair falls in front of my face like a white hood. I shake my head looking for Alphys.

"What’s happening?"

"The annual Tournament is near, Mettaton." Alphys proclaims gravely. "We both know you’re at risk. These people will take you away… to safety."

That was supposed to settle this for me, but it doesn’t. One of the humans has grabbed my hands and is cuffing them behind my back.

"Why are they tying me up?" I ask. Alphys will explain, I know there’s a reason why they’re doing this to me. I have to understand. 

"Let them, Mettaton." she says. "You’ll understand."

 _I will understand_ , I tell myself. _Alphys knows what to do, Alphys cares about me._ I take a deep breath trying to calm myself down. I shouldn’t be so disrespectful to the people who have come to help me. Suddenly, darkness surrounds me. Someone has pulled a black sack on my face. 

"I’m… I’m scared." I whisper. "I don’t know if I want to go."

"Don’t struggle, Mettaton. It’s for your own good." her voice follows me from under the cloth, immediately reassuring me. She’s there, she knows. I’ll be fine, I know it. 

"Are you coming with me?"

For a moment, there’s silence. I’m afraid. Where has she gone?

Then, her voice reappears from out there. "I’m… I’m very busy, Mettaton. I’ll stay here. You go, now. These people will keep you safe until the Tournament is over."

I sigh from under the cloth, trying my best to focus. I feel their hands grabbing me from the wrists; they pull me upwards and lead me. I follow them: that’s what Alphys would want.

"So… see you soon!" I tell her as loud as I can. She doesn’t answer back.

 

**Horror:**

The woods are dark, and every tree looks the same to me. I don’t know how long I’ve been running. I can’t believe I’m saying this yet again, but I’ve never been so scared in my life.

They’re after me, I can tell. They’re still after me, chasing me through the forest. I don’t even know what or who they are. But it’s me they want, and I’m still halfway convinced this is all just yet another bad dream.

 _Run, Mettaton_ , I tell myself as I race through the trees. I’m saying it in my mind, of course. I can’t speak. Which in this particular situation is a good thing: at least they won’t hear me scream.

Where am I? I think I’ve been there before. This place is a labyrinth: an endlessly spinning maze that hides horror, after horror, after horror. 

Snowdin must be the other way. I’ve ran for what feels like miles but I’m still lost. I concentrate, trying to focus on what awaits me once I’ve distanced my chasers. I need to rest, on my own. 

They’re still behind me. I see the lights of their torches pointing towards me. I scramble back between the trees, tripping on roots, pushing away skeleton-thin branches. 

Suddenly I feel something different under my foot. Something metallic that doesn’t belong in a forest.

And then… pain.

I squeak. This is the only sound I’ve ever been able to produce since Alphys sliced my jaw. It’s a loud, piercing squeak that immediately alerts my chasers.

Cold oily sweat drips down my back. I’ve stepped on a trap. Should have thought of it: the Royal Guards enjoys placing them wherever is possible. The trap itself is circular, with long teeth-like spikes that pierce deep into my right leg. It’s a pain I never thought possible, almost worse that Alphys’ blade on my jaw. I still remember that, even years afterwards. 

Tears roll down my face, and I quickly wipe them. I need to watch where I’m going: I don’t need blindingly thick liquid to cover my vision. I arch my back and pull my hands around the metallic circle that traps my sore leg. Come on, open up. Let me go.

It’s too strong, too tight. The spikes cut through my gloves and tear the metal on my fingers. I muffle a second squeak. 

Then I hear something move behind my back. I turn around and I see them. They’ve got me. 

One of them lifts up something that looks like a black sack.

"Good night, robot." he tells me.

Then it’s all black, and the only thing left is the pain.

 

**WasteLand:**

"Good day, beauties."

I lay on my bed in a seductive pose, my legs elongated on the silk sheets, twirling my hair in my fingers. They all eat this up like the sweetest nectar.

"How can I make you beauties content?"

Humans. They’re undeniably humans. Or maybe monsters who just look a lot like humans, who knows? It’s probably yet another weird kink they have. Whatever it is, I’ve done worse. I just want this day to be over as soon as possible. I usually feel down when dawn comes. Darkness makes me feel especially lonely. 

One of them walks towards me and points to the ground with a gloved finger.

"Get on the ground. We’ll have to tie you up."

"Oh, I see." I nod my head. Bondage… I’ve done worse as well. Maybe after this session I can finally relax for a while. I need a breath of fresh air. I feel like I’m going to explode. 

I crawl down the bed and kneel against it, pushing my backside upwards. I close my eyes as I feel them tying my hands up behind my back. _Shh, Mettaton. It’ll be easy peasy, a cup of cake. You’ve done it before._ So why am I feeling so unsettled?

I feel them lift up my head from behind, and suddenly a black cloth is pulled on my head. It sure is more innovative than the average blindfold. I realize I’m shaking. _Shh, it’s ok. You’ve done this too._

"Get up." they say. I lift myself from the ground, which is made more difficult by my bound arms. Whatever their kink is, it surely is confusing. _Stop shaking, dammit._

"We’ll get him outside from behind. If they see us, just shoot." I hear one of them say. 

What? In a shot of panic I shake my head in an attempt to remove the cover. A hand clings on my neck, keeping it in place.

"Stop struggling, or we’ll have to gag you as well."

I immediately freeze. I hate being gagged. Not being able to speak always makes me feel worse than usual. I enjoy myself some chitchat whenever I can. It’s one of the sparse joys I get from this life. 

_Shh, it’s fine. They aren’t going to do it if you stay put._

I take a deep breath, trying to focus. One thing for sure, these people clearly aren’t clients. I let them lead me through some corridors, wrapping myself in the sense of novelty of the situation. 

 

**Keep:**

Oh, what a day. Who’d have thought that being a king would be so damn tiring?

I slouch myself on the throne, wiping my forehead with my gloves. The finest silk in the Underground, as always. A king deserves the finest of everything. 

Subjects, always subjects. They pester me like viruses wandering under my metallic skin. Asking for food, and water, and whatsit and whatsthat. They don’t understand my burden. It’s effortless to tell them. Now I need some rest. This fine room is exactly what suits my needs. I wish the rest of the Undergroud had tastes as refined as my own. 

The door opens from behind me with a loud squeak. "Art thou, Commander Papyrus?" I ask. He must have managed to chase off those unworthy commoners. I stay quiet for a moment, but no one answers me.

"Papyrus, the high King of yours hath spoken." I repeat bitterly. "You shalt answer."

I jump down the throne, racing towards the door, lifting my hand over my head, swinging my cape behind my to add that extra dramatic look. But what I see isn’t what I expected.

Are these… two humans? How did they get here? Baroness Undyne should have stopped them even before they reached the castle. And why are they running towards me?

I walk backwards, but they have catched up. They grab my arm and push me to the ground. I land on my buttocks: luckily for my form, my cape dampens the land. I can’t afford to break.

"Guards!" I scream. "Guards! Come all! Obtrusion!" This is a kidnapping: can’t pretend it in any other way. But alas, in the life of a king comes the time for him to be tough.

"GUARDS! GUARDS! GUA…" one of the men has grabbed a pillow from the throne and is pushing it against my face, muffling my voice. I struggle against the binds, biting the fabric. I’m so glad I don’t have lungs. 

Before I know it, I’m tied up. A shot of classless rage pushes through me, and for a second I manage to free my face. 

"Outrage!" I scream. How can they do this? How dare they? "Outrage! Rebellion! Anarchy! Come all, rescue your King!" Where has everyone gone? Why, oh why, did I want to stay alone?

"Shush!"

One of the humans slaps me right in the face. It’s so hard I fall on the side, face down right into the carpet. My head is spinning like a convict on a wheel. "Gag him." I hear one of them say.

"GUAAAARDS!" I scream louder. One of the men grabs an angle from my cape and forcibly plugs it in my mouth . "Guaaaa… agh… mph."

Suddenly, my body gives up. I realize I’m resting on my side, on the throne room carpet, and I can’t move. My hands are bound, ant they’re tying up my feet as well. I can’t scream, and out of nausea, I can barely even see anything. Then, one of them pulls a sack over my face.

No… no… this was not supposed to happen! 

I struggle and scream and roar. I’m their king! I can’t be taken away like this! Where are those damned guards?

And they hit me. The more I struggle, the harder the blows are. In the darkness here, I can’t tell what they’re using, if they are their feet, or sticks, or whatever. But it hurts, and at one point it dampens all my resistance.

 _Let them take you_ , I tell myself as they lift me like a dead body from a guillotine. _Just wait until the guards arrive... oh, they'll regret it. They sure will._


	2. Two: A Destiny Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NB: Mettafell butchers irregular verbs because he's uneducated. No one bothered to teach him. Thus, he says "keeped" instead of "kept","goed" instead of "went", "sitted" instead of "sat" and so on. He also makes other small mistakes that are all done on purpose. The line "I never asked to be made" remains the same. In the future we'll find out why he knows that one verb.

**Classic:**

I see the men behind me as I reach the door of my new apartment. 

I'm tired. Tonight's show went on for quite a while. A horde of fans awaited me, with autographs to sign and pictures to be taken. I gave them all I had, without ever losing my smile. And after hours of that, I need my bed.

I hide my hands of my coat. It's a long, wide purple trench, with synthetic fur padding. It's at that moment when I see them. One of them awaits at the corner of the road. The other is leaning against the wall of the next building. And it's clear they're after me.

I freeze. My house is far away from here. I never minded that much before: I always enjoyed silent walks in the night. It was always an easy way to try out new human music. It's just now I realize that it wasn't the safest decision. 

My hand reach for my phone, and dial Alphys' number shakily. I'm unsure on what to do. Maybe having my defense weaponry disinstalled wasn't the brightest idea. But I swore never to attack another human in my life. I feel... fear. A sentiment quite unfit for a so-called killer robot.

Thank goodness, she has picked up. “Alphys?” I whisper in the phone. Her voice comes off from the other side.

“Mmh… Mettaton, what is it?”. She sounds drowsy. I should have known: Alphys never goes to bed late. I’ll apologize when the danger is over. 

“I’m coming back from my show, and… I’m not sure, but I think someone’s following me.”

I can hear her gasp at the other side. I chuckle. She’s so adorable. “W-Where are you?”

“I’m halfway through. I think I see…”

A sudden bang silences me. The next moment I see my phone laying on the ground, with a remarkable round hole in the middle. What?

Are they shooting me? It’s too dark to see around here. My eyes don’t work as well in the darkness. 

Suddenly a shot of pain goes through me. Scorching, warm pain. _Electric_ pain. 

I fall on my knees and bring my hands to my ears. I feel like my face is melting. A distorted noise drills through my temples. If I could vomit, I believe I’d do it right now.

I try to scream, but my voice won’t come out. I can’t move, I can’t speak. I’m nothing more than a puppet. I’ve never, ever been so afraid.

Then, something black and wide covers my face. 

 

I don’t know how long I’ve been out. I float in a dark void for what seems like an eternity. Images flash in front of my eyes, burning on the glass like chunks of lava. I see the eyes of my cousin Napstablook, crying like they never did in their entire life. The light that flashes in those of my other cousin, Mad, thrashing herself all around the room she’s in. I see Alphys in Undyne’s arms,  weeping and babbling some choked-up words. _Wake up, Mettaton!_ My voice is still stuck in my throat, like a ball of dry cement right under the gag reflex. Not even coughing seems to work.

Then, slowly, I doze away from the void. The empty darkness of my daydream turns into the restricted, hot one of what seems like a black cloth. I try to lift my hands, but realize they’ve been cuffed behind my back. My feet are cuffed as well. I am strapped to some kind of chair. Something cold and tight is strapped round my neck, but my clothes are still there, up to the coat. 

_Where am I?_

My artificial systems manage to dampen the sense of panic. A Blook would be crying their eyes out by now, maybe even another monster would, but I’m a star, I remind myself, and stars always keep their composure. Wherever I am, I can come out of. 

I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I shut my eyes, licking my lips to give them the illusion of hydration. Then I check my personal levels. To my surprise, both my battery and oil percentage is perfectly full. I groan. That could come in good.

“Hello?” I ask. “Anybody here?”. 

“Shut up, robot” a crude male voice says. “Now that you’re awake, you have to come with us.”

I nod my head from under the hood; all the while, behind my back, I load the cannon in my right hand. That’ll be enough to free me from the binds. And then... then I'll get them for real.

Suddenly I feel an itch under my neck, that slowly turns into discomfort. When the cannon is 50% loaded it has become straigh-up pain.

“Ackh!” I grunt. My body quivers in pain. More electricity. I cringe under the hood as I feel the cannon unload. What did they do to me?

My systems beam, turning down my adrenaline. If... when I get out of there I'll have to thank Alphys for adding that function. It's the only thing that keeps me from freaking out.

"Don't try that trick with us, robot." says a voice from outside. "Now get up."

I sigh. Looks like feisty rebel Mettaton will have to exit the scene, and careful strategist Mettaton will take the stage for a while. I nod my head again. The fight is delayed.

 

The following minutes are empty and silent. I let my captors drag me away to wherever they prefer. I can’t see anything, but my sensors reveal a narrow, long area that looks like a corridor. Then they stop, and force me to turn on my side. The following moments are numbingly quick. The sack is pulled away from my face. The cuffs are unlocked. I'm pushed frontally down what looks like a manhole before I can turn around.

Dammit, they are skilled. I grunt as my knees reach a metal pavement. They don't break, but the pain is sharp. For a while, I'm zoned out, curled up on my side, hands to my head, moaning and whining as I let all the adrenaline quiet down and the pain I feel all over my body, with two main hotbeds on my sore knees. No tears fall from my eyes. I'm as numb and cold as the four walls that surround me.

The room is wide, the shape of a long parallelepiped, with greenish metal walls and a dim light on the top. No furniture of any kind, not even a heat system. I pull myself closer in my coat and pull the edge over my face, shivering. I've never felt so... lost. 

After what feels like an eternity, I’m shook up by a sudden, thunderous bang, that communicates me that the door has been opened again. I get up, groaning as I realize my legs are wobbling. Even after the pain is over, I’m not made to stay still.

Something plummets off the manhole. I hear a muffled scream as it reaches the ground the same way I did. I cringe as I bend over to reach them, recalling the recent pain. 

A slender black and red figure kneels on the pavement. Their hands - four hands, corresponding to four long silvery arms - are tied behind their back, and by the crumpled-up mumbles they produce at every breath, they’ve been gagged as well. 

 _Why are they restrained? I'm not_ , I wonder as I sit back and crawl towards them. I sit up behind them: from the way their back shakes and jumps, I realize they’re crying. And they’re crying hard.

I crawl around them and reach up to face them. Slowly they lift their head to greet me. 

I study the newcomer. We look quite similar. They have black hair, just like me, but they’re longer and look like they’ve been pulled in every different direction by an army of hands. As my sight reaches their face I gasp: they have four eyes, that look at me as If I could kill them just by sight. A stream of tears falls down those yellow glassy pupils, dripping on the ground and on their torn black leggings. 

I’ve seen stranger looking monsters: it takes me much less than I thought to get used to the presence of my new cellmate. And after I’ve completely calmed down, I reach up to them with an open hand. Time for a small talk.

Their eyes block open as they notice my hand. They instantly dart backwards as if they expects a slap. This freezes me. What happened out there? 

“Come here, darling.” I coo. “Let me remove those ugly binds of yours. They really don’t fit a gorgeous one like you.” A little flattery is always the best approach in such cases, I know for experience. 

Their four eyes widen. It’s like they’ve just heart the sweetest song. Then they slither to me on their knees, eyes wide shut as I remove the duct tape from his mouth and pull out the rag. 

“What’s your name?” I ask as I crawl behind him to untie his hands. “I’m Mettaton.”

“I…I… me too.”. A soft, silky male voice answers me. “They call me Mettaton. I… I am sorry, I find my own name. Please… do not hurt me. I am very tired… I do not feel like it…”

“Like what, darling?” I ask, confusedly. I grab the duct tape that was used for his mouth and carefully stick it to the wall behind me. Then I fold the rag that kept him silent, as if it was a piece of clothing, and I wind up the rope that tied him up in a sailor-like fashion. It all may come handy in the future. 

Another Mettaton? This is more confusing than it seems. My fingers tense on the fabric as I try to focus my mind. Why is there another Mettaton? Does he have a soul like mine, or is that cracked thing in his belt just an ornament? Why is he here? Why am _I_ here?

But it’s hard to concentrate with the other Mettaton sobbing loudly behind my back. 

He quivers violently, as more tears stream on his face. How long has he been crying? As he lifts his head to the ceiling to ease the fall of the teardrops, I notice he too has a choker round his neck. A small metal plaque spells out in big capital letters the word “Fell”.

“What does my plaque say?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as gentle as possible.

“Eh-uh? Wha…”. He frantically turns to me, pushing two of his arms upwards. 

“The _plaque._ ” I repeat bitterly. My patience is wearing off. “The one round my neck. Yours says Fell. What does mine say?”

His lips mouth the word “Fell”. Then he rolls his eyes, wiping away some tears. “Classic”. he mutters. “It says C-Classic. I am sorry that I answered so late. I am not smart, you know. Please do not hit me.”.

“Hit you?”. My fingers roam on the plaque. “Why, oh why, would I hit you?”

“B-Because… B-Because I’m a stupid… waste… Because I am not worthy. I… they always hit me… please, oh, please…”

The mere thought of what he has just said seems to send even more tears streaming on his face. He looks like he’s been crying so much he should be dehydrated right now. His eyes keep roaming the room as if they expect something - or someone - to come out of a corner and punch him in the face.

I sigh. 

“Fell?” I ask. He immediately turns to me. “Can I call you Fell? You can call me Classic. We can tell each other apart”. He nods his head. 

I force myself to smile. "Who gagged you, darling?"

The poor thing whimpers: "T-they did... Boss did it... and his Dog... I... they taked me, and hitted me, and..." I shush him with my hand. He's so shook he's forgotten basic grammar.  

"No more panicking, darling. I'm here now." I say. There's a boss out there, it seems. Fell's eyes widen. "Wha... how...?"

"Don't agitate your lovely little mind on this issue, sweetie" I whisper to him. "You are tired and confused. Come to me. We both need some rest".

“I’m sorry for being so impolite. I’m quite nervous, you know? But don’t blame yourself. A star has to keep their composure even in the hardest of cases. Now let’s rest. Tomorrow we can figure out something.”

He nods his head, crawling towards me. I open my coat like a blanket, wrapping it around his back and my own body. He looks around confusedly as more tears flow. 

“Shh, don’t cry. It’s ok, everything will be ok. I’m here, ain’t I?”

 

Who is this monster? 

He looks just like me, but is… beautiful. His eyes are wide and luminous, not grimy, all clogged up in dried tear liquid like my own. His shiny pink chassis does not have a single crack. And he has two arms and two eyes, like any other normal monster.

His body is warm, cozy, and feels like… I do not know how to describe it. It is a feeling I never thinked I knowed about. His arm is pulling me closer to him, and it feels like a warm blanket I am snuggling into. Much gooder than my bed at home. 

The thought of my room sends a shiver down my spine. I want to go home. I want my mum. She will punish me for being so late, but I will not complain. I just want to go back. I sob even harder as he hugs me and cradles me like a rag doll. An ugly doll with a deformed face and a disgusting pointy body. 

“Shh…” he whispers in my ears, rocking me in his arms. Tears flush down my cheeks. They are unstoppable. Why is he being so nice? Why is he not attacking me? He is massaging my shoulders and keeping me warm, using his coat as a blanket. He wipes my eyes with his gloves, looking at me with what looks like concern.

I close my eyes, thinking about things. Undyne says that when I panic I need to think about something else. “Like what?” I asked shyly. “I don’t know. What do I care? Whatever suits you”. Undyne is not as bad as the others. Sometimes she carrys me back home when I am too weak and hurt to stand up.

So, I end up thinking about when I was taked away in the first place.

I finded a ticket on the lab floor, next to the door. “Dear, sweet Mettaton.” it sayed. “I great fan of yours. Always loved you and show. Please meet me. At bench in Waterfall. Tomorrow, at dawn.”

I still have that letter inside a metal pocket. It was maked for me, with the limited amount of words I can read. I remember being so excited I wanted to dance out of sheer joy. 

I comed to the meeting perfectly punctual. I sitted on the metal bench, waiting, thinking what my only fan looked like, what they sayed when they seed me. They thinked I am ugly? Oh, what do I do in this case?

And then, suddenly, I am surrounded by a cage of bones. Red, glowing bones. I remember screaming as they closed on me. Everything god black, and I waked up I in a place I know well: Papyrus’ shed. 

I was tied up, and a rag was stuffed inside my mouth, closed by a piece of duct tape. Papyrus and Sans were there, laughing at me as I kicked and struggled, trying to scream for help.

Papyrus walked up to me. He throwed a black cloak on my face, blinding me. Darkness was enough to shut me up. I hate darkness. You never know what can come. 

They kicked my sides until the thought of struggling maked me feel more pain. They spited at me. And they called me all those names I know very well: worthless, useless, garbage, trash, clown, freak, mess, disgusting, abomination, weakling, crybaby, disaster. And it is true, it is all true. I am a disaster. I should not even exist. I never asked to be made. 

“You thought someone liked you, didn’t you? You have to be the dumbest piece of trash who ever existed. No one likes you, no one ever will”. 

When they left, I weeped. I do not think I ever cried that hard in my life. I screamed on the gag until my head hurted, soaking my torn leggings, my rusted cuirass, my battered boots, and the black cloak that caged me from the world. 

I thinked they wanted to kill me. Either by leaving me there forever, until I roted and turned off, on my own, in the darkness… or by coming back and doing what they pleased. 

Instead they selled me. For a hundred barrels of mustard. I really am worth so little. 

Tears slip in my mouth. The sour taste of the liquid that replaces them is so familiar I can barely even feel it anymore. That says a lot about how much of a disgrace I am.

I pull myself harder next to my cellmate, relishing in his warmth. His fingers trace down under my eyes, wiping off the red liquid. He has noticed I cryed some more.

_I am so sorry. All I can do is cry. I really am worthless._

But he smiles at me. “Now, now. Stop your crying, darling. We’ll be ok. Just close those lovely eyes of yours and rest. I’m here”.

And I do as he says. I want to sleep. I want it to be over at least for a while. 

 

 

 

Wait a second.

He just sayed I have lovely eyes?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that Classic Metta is here, things are gonna heat up. He and Mettafell have already connected and are placing the first stone of the epic adventure of the Killer Robots.  
> Yes, Mad Dummy is female in my headcanon.  
> Mettafell's tears are red, instead of the classic black oil tears, because I thought it fit more his character and the AU he's a part of.  
> Next chapter: more Mettatons.


	3. Cellmates Incoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More robots.

**Classic** :

The slamming of the door wakes me up. As I search the room with my eyes I notice Fell still asleep in my arms. His face is stained with the red traces of his tears, and his expression is uneasy. Is he having a nightmare? I pull him close, shushing him gently as I prepare for the arrival of a new cellmate. 

I hear a faint male voice whispering in the shade. “Please… I’ll do whatever you want, don’t hurt me. Please.” Then, he plummets out of the trap door and lands on his belly. Ouch!

I place Fell on the ground, covering him with my coat, and crawl towards the newcomer. He mumbles in pain as I help him up. He looks like me as well. This time, the new arrival is tiny, with gentler traits and long hair that cover his face. He isn’t restrained.

“I won’t hurt you”. I tell him. “It’s ok. You are with friends.”.

He pulls his hair off his eyes, quickly brushing them on the right side of his face. Just like Fell, his soul is cracked. His shoulder pads are shorter and less pointy than mine. I also notice he’s wearing a small white bowtie, clipped under his neck. Above it, there’s a similar red, white and blue choker. The metal plaque spells out the word “Lust”. His hands roam through the room, patting the ground. 

“Can’t you see?” I ask. 

“M-My glasses…” he says. “They b-broke them. I c-can’t see without my glasses”.

“I’ll lead you, then.” I say. “I’m a friend. We are friends.” I lead him back where Fell lies asleep. 

 

The fourth newcomer is equally short in stature. He has long white hair that reach his back. His armor is light pink, his leggings are white, and his shoulder pads are wide and round, forming a heart-like shape behind his back. His choker spells out “Negative”.

Fell is still asleep. Lust has looked at him in awe for all the time. He even held his hand for a while. 

Me and Lust go to help the new arrival get up. “Are you hurt?” I ask. “Mmh, no. Not hurt. Thanks a lot for your care.” He answers.

He pulls his hair away from his face.

“This… this doesn’t look like a beautiful place.”  
“Sadly it isn’t.” I whisper as I carry him to the wall. “I’m afraid, my darling, you’ve been misinformed.”

“Oh…” he hesitates, then he muses “I guess it’s a mistake. Nothing to be sorry about.”

 

When the fifth one falls, Fell has woken up. Negative has stopped chatting with me and Lust, and has greeted our broken friend with a cascade of hugs. 

“You’ve been crying a lot.” he said. “Let me hug you. Stop being sad, ok? I can make you a drawing. Do you like yellow jellyfish?”  
“I do not know what they are.” Fell answered. “But if you like them, you can make one for me.”

While Negative draws, me and Lust lead the new arrival to the wall. He wears a pink cardigan and a black scarf. His shoulder-length hair are black and wavy. His choker says “Swap”.

“Do you know where Blooky is?” he asks wearily.

“I’m afraid I don’t.” I answer. He unwraps his scarf and hands it to us so that we can sit on it. Our bottoms are aching for the long stillness. “He’ll be really upset”.

“He’ll be really angry.” Swap stresses. “He’s the biggest star of the Underground, you know. An amazing, very popular Dj. You must recognize him.”

I freeze. This doesn’t sound like my Napstablook at all. This situations is weirder than it seems. 

 

“Where I come from” Lust laments as he combs his hair with his ungloved hand. “Everybody is obsessed with sex. Instead of your Royal Guards, we have a Royal Harem. Papyrus, Sans and Undyne are all prostitutes. Even Alphys doesn’t hold anything back.”  
“But you aren’t.” Swap asks. “You look so… pure.”

“That’s remarkably gentle of you.” he quipped blushing. The trap door opens again, and this time, we actually hear a voice.

“Let go of me, you groveling betrayers!” a male voice screams above us. “You shalt not cross thy king!”

This time, it’s me and Swap who greet the newcomer. He wears elegant silk clothes including a purple and pink doublet, loose black pants, and a purple cape the size of a window tent. As we help him up, I read his choker. It spells out “Keep”.

“Unhand me, unworthy fools.” he hisses. “You don’t have the right for physical contact with thy King”.

We both back off confusedly. King? In this universe I’m king?

“Oh… we… we’re terribly sorry.” Swap mutters. “We… we didn't know you were a king. 

“You ought to, foul peasant.” Keep snaps. “And now, indicate me the way out.”

Oh, goodie. This one looks like a real nuisance. All the other Mettatons seemed nice and sweet, but this one… he’s so rude, and invasive, I wonder who on earth would accept him as a ruler.

“Don’t scream so loud, new friend.” Negative chants. He’s actually drawing yellow jellyfish for Fell. He has a storage of paper and wax pastels inside his inner compartments. “We can sort it out. Maybe I can draw something for you.”

“I am not in need of your measly scribbles.” Keep spits out. “I have the finest arts in my Royal Palace. And I shalt return to my place.”

I grab Swap’s wrist and we move back to where the others await. Fell has wrapped himself in my coat like a slug inside his shell, and his expression is a mask of panic.

“Stay calm, darling.” I whisper as he rests his head on my lap. “He doesn’t have anything against you. He doesn’t hate you. We love you, dear.”

“I’ll add more jellyfish.” Negative touts, and goes back to work on his drawing.

 

Luckily for us, Keep doesn’t say much else. I expected a long, tiring oration about how unworthy it was for a king to stay trapped with _peasants_ like us. Instead, all he does is lie by his side on the opposite corner of where we stand, cover his entire body with his cape (my stars, how wide is that thing?) and fall into a deep slumber. He was probably too fatigued to waste any more energy.

Negative too looks drowsy. He lays face-down on his own drawing, covering the jellyfish with his hair. Lust rests his head on my shoulder, quietly snoring. His hair have fallen on the side of his face, revealing a broken eye from which droplets of an unidentified pink goo fall. I point at Fell, placing my index finger on my mouth. He nods. As I fix his haircut with some MTT-Brand clips I have inside one of my own compartments, I notice that Swap’s eyes are looking fluttery as well.

“Go to sleep, darling.” I tell him. “You looks so tired.”  
“I can’t.” he mumbles. “I’m scared. I don’t want to dream of Blooky.” And yet, by the time our seventh cellmate plummets from the manhole, he has fallen asleep as well. 

“Fell, won’t you help me greet this new guest?” I ask.

“They… they’ll be scared of me.” he murmurs tearfully. 

But the new guest doesn’t seem to mind. His hair are short, styled into what looks like a side mohawk. His entire body has dark tones of black and red. His soul, yet again, is cracked. His choker spells out “Horror”.

Me and Fell are confused as we help him up. We hear him grumble in pain, but he doesn’t speak. Fell’s eyes widen as he glances at his jaw. It looks downright broken, as if someone had pushed a knife though it sideways. The mere thought makes me feel pain. Fell brings his four hands to his face, looking like someone who has just seen their worst nightmare.

“I’ll handle this, darling. You don’t have to. Go with the others.” I whisper. Fell is a fragile one. I begin to wonder what made him this way.

“Are you hurt?” I ask Horror. He shakes his head, and points to his cracked jaw. He shakes his finger in the typical “no” gesture. I freeze.

“Are you mute?” I ask. He nods. His eyes look at the ground shyly. _Oh, sweetie_ …

“Do you know sign language?” I ask. At this, he lifts his head and the mangled remaining of his mouth contort into something that looks like a smile. It’s like… oh, no. Like he’s never heard such a question before.

I lead him to the wall, thinking more and more about what this Mettaton, and all these other Mettatons around me, have been through. 

 

The eight cellmate comes in while me and Horror are having a small chat. Sign language was one of the first things I learned on the surface. If I have to communicate with my fans, it’ll be ALL my fans. Fell doesn’t know it. He barely knows spoken language at all. Now that he’s getting used to Horror’s presence among us, he has gladly accepted me teaching him what he needs to know. The new guest is dressed in blue. He wears a gorgeous indigo cape with gold patterns on. His choker spells the word “Outer”. He seems… tired. Like he’s fought for long, until he couldn’t hold it anymore. 

“Where are we?” he asks. “I don’t remember the rest… They took me away with a magnet…”  
“I don’t know, darling.” I whisper sadly, as me and Fell help him up. “But you’re with friends now. We’ll be ok.”

He looks at the sleeping robots and at Horror. “They look… like…”  
“Us. I know.” I answer. “I don’t know what’s going on. They’re scared and tired.”  
I pause, looking at their limp faces. “I want to help them too.” 

“We can… we can fight!” he hisses through his teeth. “Together, we can…UGH!” His legs buckle under his weight, sending him into Fell’s arms. I cringe, already envisioning them both on the ground. But Fell holds him tight with his four arms. His four eyes widen. 

“You are hurt”. he mutters. “You need to sit. You are not mad at me? I can be good, I swear”.

“Aw, what a cutie.” Outer grunts. “Yes, I do need some rest. And thank you.”

 

One last guest reaches us a while later. Outer has fallen asleep. Me, Horror and Fell are taking care of him, wrapping him in his cape tightly, when we hear a chipper male voice from outside the manhole.

“Oh, come on, darlings, stop pushing! I don’t bite, you know!”

Then he plummets down the hole like the others and we rush to his rescue. As soon as they see him, Fell and Horror freeze. “He has four eyes… like me…” Fells mutters, hugging himself. 

And he does. He has two arms, but also four bright, shiny eyes. He wears nothing but elegant , white and red lingerie. His shoulders are shrouded in a thick red boa. His choker spells out “WastelandFell”.

“Fell…” the robot with the same name sputters. He’s too paralyzed to move. Thus, it’s me and Horror that help him up. He chuckles. “Thank you, sweeties. May I ask… have I seen somewhere before?”  
I laugh, somehow. Horror chuckles too, but immediately brings his hands to his face. Some red droplets are falling from his cracked jaw. We can hear him whine in pain. I stare at Fell: he looks startled at best. I grab one of his hand and stroke it within my own. 

“Sweetie, let me handle this.” Waste unwraps his boa from his neck and uses it as a tissue to wipe off the liquid. He pats his shoulder afterwards. “It’s ok, sweetie. Sign to me when you need it.”

Horror brings his hand to his mouth and tilts his forearm to the front. It’s the sign of “Thank you”.

Then, Waste approaches Fell. “Nice eyes” he comments. “So shiny and elegant, may I say”.

The expression on the gloomy android’s face is that of pure happiness. Something I’ve rarely seen.

 

 **Fell** :

I am confused. Wasteland is very sweet and nice. All the other robots too appear sweet and nice. Except Keep. I wonder what I doed to make him angry. Maybe later on I can say sorry. I hope he forgives me and does not get angry like the others at home, like Mom and Boss. 

But Classic is still my favorite. He is really nice. Maybe he can be my first friend. 

_Dream on, Mettaton. You know no one likes your ugly mutated face._

 

 **Negative** : 

My drawing for Fell is almost finished. He’s going to love those yellow jellyfish. 

As the pastel spreads on the paper, I think of my situation. This place isn’t as bad as I thought. I’m meeting new nice people and making friends. It’s rather cold, but we can fix that. We can snuggle together. That could be sweet. And maybe, soon, Alphys will join us. I already miss her so much. I wonder if she misses me too. 

 

 **Lust** :

I’m tired, the world is blurred, and I’m surrounded by buff strangers.

And yet, I feel… secure. I’m not shaking, nor sweating, and the biggest issue of this location seems to be the low temperature. I feel like I could fall asleep in between them, and still be perfectly fine.

It’s a… strange feeling. I’ll need some time to process it.

But what if… what if this place isn’t as bad as it seems?

What if… this is a way out?

 

 **Swap** :

Oh, Blooky… my eyes swell up as if I was about to cry. I mustn’t cry. I mustn’t cry. It’ll only make things worse. 

I pull myself tighter in my cardigan. He’ll find me. He can’t leave his cousin behind like this. I’m important to him, can’t I?

Or maybe I ain’t. Maybe he really is better off without me. A star shines better without a smaller light in the distance. 

 

 **Horror** :

The room is cold, and eight more me surround me. It’s a strange situation indeed. But I’m not scared. After all the fear I’ve been through, nothing phases me.

The one that calls himself classic look like the leader. Maybe he can help us. I already miss home. 

Feelings still confuse me as a whole. But Waste was a nice one after all. I have rarely met nice people in the past. 

 

 **Keep** :

Even with my cape wrapped around me, it’s still cold. A king doesn't deserve such a humiliating bed. I hug myself under the cover, praying that someone is looking for me. Baroness Undyne will be on a quest to get me. I’m sure Marquess Alphys will have her go. 

Ugh, it’s so awful. Maybe if I close my eyes I can pretend to be in my room. Yeah… wrapped in my silk comforters, a nice warm tea on my side, and the music from Gran Maestro Napstablook playing in the background. That’s where I belong. That’s where I’ll go back. 

 

 **Outer** :

My legs are giving in. Ugh, it hurts. I hate it when my body gets magnetized. It loses all control of itself. I clench my teeth: it’ll be over in a few hours anyway. 

Then, we need to fight. These robots can help me as well. We can form a team, and maybe find a way out of this damn room. We are killer robots after all.

My body quivers and I pull myself tighter in my cape. I feel so weak. 

I hope Alphys is ok, wherever she is. 

 

 **Wasteland** :

Now that I’m sitting down, I can finally relax. It’s clear that there guys were not interested in sexual affairs with me. Wherever they took me, I’m not scared. I know I should be, but something holds me back.

I’m out of the brothel. I can’t believe it. I'm actually out of the brothel. With... robots like me. I'm stunned, but also... excited. I lay down on their side, preparing myself to go to sleep. I can't wait to get to know them all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last introductory chapter. The following ones will focus more on the sweet robots taking in action.  
> Tell me which one you prefer. 
> 
> Thanks a lot.


	4. A Tale Of Multiverses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've recently found out that the AU I was referring to as "HorrorTale" has been renamed by the admin as "UnderTomb" not to be confused with another AU by the same name. This is what i'll refer it as from now on. Soon I'll edit all the chapters so that it remains consistent.  
> Also, apparently UTB!Mettaton being mute was just somebody's headcanon. Well... I believe I can keep that. Him being mute makes him more unique and distinct.

**Outer:**

I’m woken up by a sudden perturbation all around me. I sit up quickly. The entire ground is shaking. My cape is tangled up with my legs. As I try to unfold them, the room tilts to a corner. Eight robots roll down the pavement and reach the wall Keep was leaning against. 

The one with the white hair (what was his name again?) lands on him. We can hear him grunt from under the cover; then, he pulls himself out and grabs the other robot’s hair.

“How dare you wake up thy king like that?”

“I’m sorry.” he whispers. “I didn’t mean to wake you up. The room just…”

He can’t say anything else: Keep has slapped him in the face.

“Get away from me! Get all away from me. Move away from the private space of thy king.”

I have finally untangled my cape from my legs. I crawl upwards, grabbing the other robot’s hand and pulling him to me. Negative. His name is Negative. Keep it in mind.

“Stop it, ok?” I ask. “We are all nervous. We can’t control what’s going on.”

“I care nothing.” Keep hisses. “I shouldn't be here at all.”

Classic lifts his hand. “None of us should. Stop fighting, Keep. If you really are a king, you should care about the others.”

“On the contrary.” Keep teases. “It's you who have to take care of me.”

Classic huffs. “As my cousin Mad says: whatever, whatever, whatever. We need to figure out what's going on.”

I nod. I feel an affinity towards this robot. I've never really been into pink, but it fits him wonderfully. He’s so confident and calm. I believe he can help us all. 

The others look so fragile and lost. The big one with four arms has tears stains on his face. The small, red one has a big crack all over his jaw. Another one wears a rose cardigan and has been wrapping himself in it like a blanket all the time. He can hardly balance on the shaky floor in that position. 

Suddenly, the room moves. It shifts to the side, slowly but visibly. We are all caught by surprise, swinging on our sides. My head spins for a moment. That stupid magnetism is just now wearing off. 

“Whatever is going on?” Lust asks. His hair cover all of his face. His hands pat the ground of our cell. He acts like a blind man.

Before I can ask him if he's ok, Classic sentences for us all.

“We’re moving, gentlebeauties.”

 

 **Waste** : 

This isn’t a room. It never was. It’s a container, and it’s been lifted with us all inside.

I lie on my belly, holding to nothing. My hands can't grasp the smooth metallic floor. In a few moments I've rolled to the wall, and there I stay. 

We stumble about in our little confined space. Tomb rolls from a wall to another, his arms wrapped around his face. Swap has fallen facedown. Lust crawls all over the place, tapping the ground with his arms. 

"Here!" I call, flinging my arms in his direction. He immediately grabs my hand, and I pull him to me, grabbing from his hip. I feel him tense.. 

"Thanks a lot. I can’t see anything without my glasses." he mumbles. Then, he brings his hands to mine, pulling it away from his hip.

"Would you mind not holding me there? I have… I don’t like hands in that place. You can grab my underarm."

I obey and move away my hand. -You have nice hair.- I whisper in his ear. Looks like the habit of flattering the people I interact with is yet to leave me. I huff. What have they made me into?

"Thank you." Lust giggles. "People... never notice my hair. They are preoccupied with other things. I don't really take care of them anyways."

 _Why do they call him Lust? There's nothing lustful in him._  As I pull him close to me I notice that Fell is the only one who isn't moving. His claws sink in the pavement keeping him stuck where he is. Classic holds to him from behind, but he looks pretty precarious on his back. 

"Let go." I hear Outer advise them. "Slip to the wall. Let's make a chain."

"Are... you sure?" I hear Fell ask. "Can I go there?"

"Of course you can." I say. "Come on, Felly, let's get to know each other."  _Felly? Oh, come on, did I really need to do it?_

Classic nods from Fell's shoulder. The next moment, the four armed robot's claws let go of the floor and send the two sliding to the other side of the wall.

"Will you stop leaping on me?" Keep asks bitterly. "When the guards arrive, I'll take care of you too."

"Relish in your fantasy, darling." I say as I carry Lust to the wall with me. He clings to my arm as if the room was completely dark. Tomb and Swap are also moving towards us, sliding of their backsides.

For a while, we stay silent, looking at each other in the dimly lit room. Even Keep has shut himself up, wrapping himself in his cape like a sickly kid in his blanket. Lust's hand tenses around my arm, clinging on me like his last safety. The room swings lightly from one side to another. The walls have turned cold. I can hear a strong wind from outside. What’s going on?

Then, Classic breaks the silence.

"Ok, guys. Brainstorming."

 

**Swap:**

We form a circle in the corner of the room. Outer opens his cape and wraps him around Negative and Horror, pulling them close to himself. Classic also covers up himself and Fell with his own coat. Keep too has a cape, much bigger than Outer’s, but doesn’t seem to want to give it away. Which seems like a pretty hateful move considering that Waste, who sits next to him, wears nothing but very skimpy lingerie and has started to shake. I consider giving him my scarf to wrap himself in, but I’m unable to. I feel so awkward next to him. _Why am I always so shy?_

"How are you feeling?" Classic asks. "Take your time to speak. Every star is important."

Waste is the first to answer: "I’m rather cold, may I say. But I’m fine. This place isn’t that bad once you get used to it."

"I’m also ok." Negative chants. "Alphys said that I was going to a beautiful place where I would have made friends. And I have made many friends indeed."

Lust huffs coldly: "We barely know each other’s names."

"I know, but to me you’re all friends." Negative chuckles. "I can make drawings for you. Do you like yellow jellyfish?"

Tomb moves his hand from his chest, then folds it to the front. He draws a circle in the air atop his head, sticks out his fingers from behind it, then swings his finger side to side in front of his face, then up and down. Finally, he places his right arm sideways across his chest, his hand open, and runs his left above it with his thumb up.

He said “I don’t like jellyfish. They are dangerous.”" Classic explains. Tomb nods his head. Negative blinks into the void. "I don’t mind. I can make you something else."

"How do you know what he says?" Keep asks. "He’s but making senseless movements."

"They aren’t senseless movements." Waste intervenes with a bitter smile. "It’s called sign language. He uses it to communicate."

"How can anyone find a meaning in this handshaking?" Keep huffs. 

"I do."Waste chuckles bitterly. "Some… people I met really appreciated it." he turns to Horror and smiles. "Where I came from, many people don’t possess speech. Don’t feel left out. I can be your interpreter. I’m at your service."

At this, Lust cringes visibly.

"Are you ok?" I ask. 

 

**Lust:**

No, hell I’m not ok. I’m slowly connecting the pieces. Even without the aid of my glasses, I can still see what Keep is wearing. It’s barely anything at all. And hearing him say that line with that condescending tone I know so well has light up a led inside of me.

"I’m fine." I tell Swap trying to smile, bringing my hands to my hair and restlessly caressing them. "Waste… reminds me of some people I know."

"Oh…" Swap hesitates, his fingers stroking the edge of his cardigan. -" hope they were nice people. Where you come from… you said it’s not the best of places."

I nod my head, clenching my teeth. What an euphemism. I despise that place with all the strength I have left. And it despises me back. 

"Come to think of it, we need to shed a light on this argument." Outer intervenes. "Why are we here? Why are we so… similar to each other?"

A moment of silence follows this affirmation. We glance nervously at each other. It’s impossible to ignore it any further. Small talk and naps won’t last for long. Reality is out there and we’re out of hiding places. What are we to each other? Why are we confined here? 

Waste holds my hand tightly in a way that he probably thought was friendly. Even his gloves look… lewd. Red leather, with square-shaped studs and cut at his fingers. I remember one of them wore similar ones too. They were black, and reached their elbow. Sometimes, at night, I still feel their roughness on my skin. _Ugh…_

_No, no, don’t think about that. What did Alphys say? What you don’t feel it’s not happening._

Instinctively I hold Waste’s hand tighter. _Great. Now you’re going chummy chummy with the prostitute._ If that’s what I wanted, I might as well have become Papyrus’ boyfriend. 

I think of Snowdin, the cold city where he lives with his brother, a lazy drunk named Sans. I used to go there quite often before that night. Books were my only distraction from that messed-up place. Most of them were pornographic novels, sex themed magazines and manuals for kamasutra and BDSM and what not; but there are exceptions, and one day, I remember finding an old volume that turned out to be quite interesting.

"Monster souls, every monster soul…" I instinctively recite, breaking the silence. They all turn to me. I freeze darting backwards, but after a second I realize it was nothing but a conditioned reflex. There’s something within them… something that makes me feel secure. 

“I-it’s a part from an old book I read some time ago. It was titled «The Space Between Spaces». The author signed themselves as I.S.”

My cybernetic memory brings out the exact words from the book. “Monster souls, every monster soul, can’t exist on their own through the Spaces. When one is born, a link is made. And when souls are connected… they are bound to meet, one day. They will know that day when it comes.”

We all look at each other in awe. I should have imagined… we are all named Mettaton… we all look so similar… what else could have happened? 

“Is it possible that… we are the souls?” Negative hints. 

“Connected. What is this connection you talk about, Lust?” Keep inquires.

I hate them calling me Lust. Wasn’t it for the fact that it’s the only way we can tell each other apart, I’d probably snap.

Anyway, I answer: “I don’t know. It wasn’t specific. One of these books that only talk in aphorisms, you know?”.

“I hate them too.” Keep groans. “I hate many books, in fact”.

“I once readed this too.” a faint voice whispers. 

It’s the creepy one the four arms.

 

 **Fell:**  

Why did I speak? What was I thinking? They are all looking at me. 

What do I say now?

I bring my hands to my face. I want to vanish. Should have stayed silent like they say I should. Mom gets angry when I speak without her consent. She is tiny but she hits very strong. One day she breaked one of my eyes.

“Well, I.. I was not reading myself. I can not read.” I sigh, hugging myself. “I can read very few words. It was mum… she readed and I listened from the other room. I know I can not, but I was curious. Mum gets mad when I do, though. But she readed out loud and I listened, even though I could not and…”  
“What did it say, Fell?” Outer interrupts me. I should have knowed. They always say that I can not concentrate. Maybe this is why my show is so hated. I am so dumb. Hmm…

“Fell, darling? Are you ok?” Negative asks. Oh, yes. The book. What did it say? My robotic memory reaches out for Mom’s voice. It is comforting to listen to it even while I am here. Is she thinking of me? I hope so. Mom… I miss her so much… is she thinking of me? 

“Mom said that… there are other wordls… worlds. And they are… similar to our own. Every one is different in its own way.”

I close my eyes trying to recall her exact words. “Their names are written in the foldings of the universe. One day, someone sealed them and made them what they are.”

After I said that, I curl back up in the arms of Classic. I am not used to speaking. They are treating me very nicely. It is still different.

“That, my dear Fell, is… pretty crazy”. Classic whispers. “But in a bizarre way… it makes all sense now. Look at ourselves. Nine gorgeous superstars with the same name.”  
_I am not gorgeous. Stop saying that._

“Universes… different universes…” Outer’s eyes aim at the ceiling. “Connected to each other through the binds of time.”

“It’s like a story I’ve already heard… though I don’t remember where.” Keep whispers.

“So…” Lust intervenes “Does that mean that the reason we are here… is because in some strange way… We are the same person?”

In the silence I see Horror lifting his fist and moving it as if he was knocking at a door.

“It means «yes»”. Waste says. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who I.S. is...
> 
> Also, I've thought of the idea of making one-shots about the different Mettatons, to flesh out aspects of their character and explore their backstories further.  
> What do you think about it?


	5. Out Of The Cell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Robots quarrel, make up, and meet a familiar face.   
> And with familiar I mean infamous. Especially for many of my readers.

**Negative** : 

If I count my time correctly, the annual Festival must have already started. Alphys never allowed me to watch it, even though I always wanted to. But after a while I stopped asking: there must be a valid reason why she doesn’t want me to go there. I trust her. She’s my friend. And she gave me this beautiful metallic body.

I’m starting to get used to this place. The people really seem nice and gentle. They even look really pretty. I feel like… I've always belonged here. 

All this talk of Alternate Universes and Souls is really starting to confuse me. I’ve never even imagined there could be another Mettaton, let alone eight. Or even more, who can imagine? 

Yet, I want to get along with them. I’ve never really had any friend. Blooky is the only one that talks to me sweetly. I miss him so much. I also miss Alphys. I wonder if she’s enjoying the Festival. 

“But now that we know who we are” I suggest. “We should try to get to know each other.”

“And how is that setting us free?” Keep hisses. “Great: I’ve been captured with a bunch of ninnies. Let’s make friendship bracelets and talk about our feelings.”

“Why not?” I ask. I’ve always wanted to make friendship bracelets. I never had anyone to make them with, though. “I can make one for you, maybe. I could use my hair.”

“Ew!” he screams. “Don’t even suggest it. I already have the finest pieces of jewelry.”

He pulls a necklace out of his doublet and shows it to me. It’s a heart-shaped locket, decorated with a delicate pink stone. It’s really pretty. I’m glad Keep has to own such a precious and special jewel. 

I reach out my hand to touch it, but Keep pulls it back into his doublet as soon as he sees me. I guess I should have asked. My bad.

“Have you seen it? That’s a one of a kind diamond. Only one exists in the whole Underground. And it’s mine. What do I need your measly friendship bracelets for?”

“That looks… shiny.” Fell mumbles. “I like how the light bounces on the stone. Can I touch it?”

“No way.” Keep groans, darting backwards. “You’d contaminate it. Have you even seen yourself? You have to be the least appealing creature I’ve ever seen. Deformed, cockeyed and with the expression of a dumb mule.”

“Oh my stars, Keep, stop it already.” Classic exclaims. I examine Fell: he looks as if he was about to break down. He curls up in a ball, burying his face in his hands. I crawl to him  and hold two of them. They shake. 

“Yes, hide that ugly snot of yours.” Keep spits out. “Only aesthetically pleasing people are welcome in my kingdom.”

Fell snivels from behind his hands. I pull him closer, keeping my eyes on Keep. I don’t get what he’s doing. It’s like he’s going all the way to make Fell feel bad about himself, and I don’t understand why anyone would want to do so. Making people feel bad has always made _me_ feel bad in turn. Instead, it seems as if he feels better by doing so. 

I will understand. I hope to understand it sooner or later. 

 

**Tomb:**

Fell lifts up his hands from his face.

“I-I know.” he mumbles. “I know that… I am not pretty. My eyes look in different directions. I never asked to be made. I hate this body… I am sorry…”

“Shh, stop it.” Waste whispers. “It’s ok. You are really pretty. Your eyes are beautiful.”

I don’t know what to do. Was it for me, I’d tell him something. Too bad I can’t speak. Maybe there’s something else I can do. Does he understand sign language? 

I’m not used of people like him. Despite his conditions, you can tell he has no ill intentions. I can follow his moves quite closely. It’s already an upgrade from before. 

“Why are you protecting the freak?” Keep inquires. 

“He’s not a freak. He’s different.” Classic proclaims. “You’re hurting him. He did nothing to you. What kind of king does that?”

“A king that values aesthetic!” Keep gets up from the floor and swings his cape behind his back, striking both Lust and Outer in the face. “Look at yourself, Classic. You have no time to spend with these scums. A harlot.” he points at Waste, making him scoff. “A crosseyed freakshow.” he points at Fell. He hisses in response.

“And… whatever this thing is!”

With that, he kicks me on the leg. 

Agh! I curl up on the side, whining. I want to scream, I need to scream. My wounded leg! The pain is deep, sharp, it clings to all of my circuits like a hook. Wails escape my lips, tears blind me. I wipe them furiously. I mustn’t cry. I need to stay focused. 

“Knock it off!” Waste orders. “Look at what you’ve done to him.”

“Shut up, you unworthy strumpet!” Keep throws himself at him and slaps him in the face. “Prostitutes have no business with me. Cover yourself up already!”

“I don’t have clothes!” Waste is screaming. “I didn’t ask for this. You don’t understand!”

“I don’t care! I’ll have you arrested. I’ll expose you naked next to the cockeyed abomination. Maybe that will teach you how to behave in front of a king!”

“Nooo!”

Suddenly, four grey serpents slither from behind Keep’s back and grab hold of him. He shrieks, kicking the air and struggling against their firm grip. As I lift my head I realize these aren’t serpents: it’s Fell’s arms.

“Release me! I order you to release me, you fool!” Keep shouts. “Let go of me, you unholy four-armed abomination! I’ll have you arrested. Whipped to death! You’ll be my main attraction at my upcoming freakshow!”

Fell’s eyes block open, but he doesn’t desist. He holds his own hands, clutching Keep in a strong metallic cage.

“Does it hurt, Tomb darling.” Classic asks me. I lift my hands. _So so_ , I think. Why did he kick me? Here’s another behavior I don’t get. What even is beauty to me?

“Let me go! Release me!” Keep screams. 

“Swap, darling, would you mind grabbing that rope, please?” Outer asks, pointing to a corner. There’s indeed a rope winded up on the floor, next to a folded piece of cloth. Fell has put Keep down, and he struggles to get up, but the combined forces of him, Outer, Classic, and Waste are enough to keep him firm and still. Swap hands the rope and cloth to Waste, and he quickly ties up the king’s wrists behind his back. Then, he binds his feet as well. The rope is long enough to do so.

“Stop, it, ok?” Waste asks him. 

“Untie me right now!” he yells. “How dare you! You’re committing treason!”

Outer huffs. He pulls the folded cloth from the floor, and shoves it into his screaming mouth.

“That’ll keep you quiet.” he chuckles. 

I nod my head in approval. We need some silence to reflect.

And now that I think of it… wait a second.

Why isn’t this room swinging anymore?

 

**Waste** :

Keep wails and moans on the floor, but I don’t care. As much as I hate being gagged, I find some perverse pleasure in projecting my fears towards this unlikable incarnation of myself. As if I needed more “perversion” within me. His words have stung me in places that I’d rather keep safe. The secret locations of an area too many people have intruded in. 

Out of a reflex, I crawl towards him. I move to his neck, turning him upside down. He mumbles, but I don’t care. I finally find the brooch that keeps his cape tied around his neck. I remove it. 

His cape is wider than the tents that covered my bed back at the brothel. It has a puffy  pink neck, but for the rest it’s purple. A nice color. I’ve only worn red all my life. 

I clip the brooch to my boa, then wrap myself in the cape. It feels good to finally be warm and covered. A simple, yet significative pleasure. I’ve longed for those all my life. 

“Are you all ok?” Classic asks. I nod my head. “I feel so warm and comfy now. Thank you for the gift, Keep.” The ex-king mutters threats from under the gag. He’s struggling hard, but the rope doesn't even tense. 

“That’s quite a strong rope.” Swap comments.

“I know.” Fell chuckes. “It was used by Boss for me.”

“But who is this Boss?” Lust asks. I notice he’s shivering. His eyes are wide. 

“Well.. he is a skeleton.” Fell says. “He is tall, and pointy… and his name is Papyrus, but he wants me to…”

“Wait…” Classic barges in. “Papyrus? Are you sure?”

I know a Papyrus. He’s a raider, I heard. He attacks houses and camps alongside his brother Sans. I don’t like him, but I don’t think he’d ever kidnap anyone.

“I know a Papyrus.” Classic says. “He’s… a nice guy. Kind of invasive, but harmless. Are you sure that was him?.”

“My Papyrus is not harmless. He is mean. He hits me with the bones and calls me bad names. I fear Papyrus. He hates me. They all hate me.”

Oh, dear… And I thought my Papyrus was bad. 

“Goodness, Fell darling, what kind of hellhole do you come from?” Classic is shaking. “You did nothing wrong. You are so sweet… why, oh why, would they hate you?”

“I can not tell.” Fell says. “I am sorry. I do not want to tell.”

_Poor thing_. “It’s ok, sweetie. Take your time. We are friends, aren’t we?”

Keep mutters something that sounds like “no”. I grab a corner of his cape and playfully whip him on the cheek with it. “Shut up, you!”

“Anybody else?” Outer asks. “Does anybody else know a Papyrus?”

Lust blinks, rubbing his fingers on his temples. 

“My Papyrus is a horny prostitute. Like everybody else. Case closed.”

I frown, pulling myself closer in Keeps’ cape. “Maybe he doesn’t mean to. Maybe he… doesn't know any better. Maybe he’s always been that way. He’s… forced.”

“Maybe not.” Lust groans. “He does it because he likes it. That’s what they are all like where I come from. They are obsessed with sex. They do nothing but sex. And I’ve had enough of prostitutes, for what concerns me.”

I cling to the cape, my eyes twitching. From the look on their faces I can tell they know he has screwed up. Lust runs a hand on his hair, taking a deep breath. 

“Waste, darling, I didn’t mean. Are you… ok?”

“They forced me.” I roar. “I wanted to have a body, to sing and be a star. Instead, Alphys forced me to become a prostitute. And I hate it. I hate it, ok? And I thought I could get away from it now that I’m here. I never thought I’d have to defend myself from myself.”

My eyes are starting to itch. Dammit. Lust looks as if he wants to hide in a hole. 

“Sorry.” he babbles. “It’s just a thing I do. I lash out to people I’m not familiar with. I didn’t mean it. Really. You… you’re nice. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I’m used to this, darling.” Waste says calmly. “But if I may… is there a reason why you aren’t… like them?”

Lust hugs himself. “I… Blooks have always been like this. I just wanted to be a star. But… heh. Fate had other plans for me.”. He tries to sound playful, but the crack in his voice is undeniable.

“I know what you’re saying, sweetie.” I say, opening the corners of my cape so that he can wrap himself into it. “People have expectations for us, and we don’t fulfill it.”

“But darlings, a star doesn’t have to fulfil expectations.” Outer intervenes. “Stars just shine and don’t care about the world. I can tell. I live among them.”

Lust nods his head. “I… I see. Thanks to both. More Papyri to go?”

 

**Keep:**

Their stupid little chitchat goes on for quite a while. I don’t see why I can’t join. I too know a Papyrus after all. Commander Papyrus, actually. Not the brightest out there, but quite enough useful. But apparently the happy robot club doesn’t want me among them.

“My Papyrus is powerful. He attacks people with his bones. He’s scary. He says that he wants to be powerful. I don’t really get it… but I think he does it for a reason. He can’t be all bad, can he?”

“My Papyrus is laid-back and tells a lot of jokes. His brother Sans is the one that has guard ambitions. They are both great fans of my cousin.”

“He’s saying «My Papyrus hunts humans with traps and smells their blood.»”

“My Papyrus hits on me. I don’t know what to do! I’m not interested!”

“C’mon, what are you? Tsundereplane?”

They all chuckle. They seem to get along really well. Who cares? A king can take care of himself.

Ugh. These ropes are so tight. The four armed freakshow shouldn’t have grabbed me like that. But he’ll pay, oh, how he’ll pay. I try to close my eyes, imagining them all tied up to poles and humiliated by the crowd. That would be…

Actually, I feel no joy coming from it. Dammit. They are too similar to me, I suppose. But shouldn’t Mettatons help each other up? Instead, they wrapped me up like a dummy and left me on the side to rot.

“MPPH!” I try to scream. They can keep me tied up, but let me speak. They can’t shut a king up.

“Keep, goddammit. What’s your problem?” Outer yells. “First you insult us, then you complain? And you call yourself king. Show some dignity.”  
“Maybe he has something nice to say.” Negative intervenes. “Let him speak.”

He kneels towards me and removes the rag from my mouth. Oh, thank goodness.

“Why aren’t you helping me up? You’re being all nice with the harlot and the freakshow. What makes me different?”

“First thing first” Classic says “Stop calling them that. Waste is not a harlot and Fell is not a freakshow. Are you, Fell?” Fell shakes his head, his eyes shiny. Ugh. That face.

“Secondly, you hurt Tomb. See?”

Tomb nods. He hints to his leg, then points his index fingers against each other.

“His leg hurts.- Classic explains. Tomb pulls his right hand in a fist and holds it into his left. He forms two Vs with his fingers and crosses them on his chest. -He got caught in a trap. See?”

Tomb shows his leg. We all gasp. A deep, circular cut surrounds it right under his knee. Linear stains of black oil roll on his calf and ankle.

“Oh, poor dearie!” Lust exclaims. I can’t look at it. It looks so… painful.”

“Exactly.” Classic says. “And you didn’t even apologize.”

Huff. “Ok. Sorry. Now will you tell me what you have against me?”

“We have nothing against you, Keep darling.” Classic explains. “We just needed some time to think. You know… you don’t really act like a king.”

“And… and what do you know what it means to be a true king?” I spit out. 

He sighs.

“Believe me, more than you’d think”.

 

**Classic:**

Before I can say anything else, a door on the side of the cell opens. 

“Get out, robots. Don’t make us use the force.” a male voice yells.   
“The men in green!” I hear Swap sob.

“Shh, don’t worry. Don’t agitate. I’ll go first” I tell them. I pull my hair behind my head and take a deep breath. Stay calm, Mettaton. You have to be strategic and protect these new friends.

I step out of the container. Not less than fifty soldiers surround me, armed and ready to attack. I lift my hands. “I’ll do as you say. Don’t hurt me.”

“Kneel on the ground” one of them tells me. His chest is covered in medals. “We’ll have to cuff you, robot.”

I kneel. Two soldiers grab my hands and cuff them behind my back with astonishing speed. Then, it all goes black. A sack. Again.

I hear the agitated voices of my robot friends screaming from the outside. Waste jokes around, telling the soldiers not to be rough. Negative asks them politely where we’ll go. Lust begs for mercy. Keep orders them to let go of the king. And Fell, sweet Fell… he screams his speakers out. “LET ME GO! LET ME GO!”

After a while, their noises quiet down. I feel someone scrambling with my cuffs and the choker I’m still wearing. The clinging of a chain rattles my circuits. It links the choker to the cuffs, then proceeds forward and backwards. Someone pulls the chain from my neck, forcing me to walk in that direction. Fear fills my entire body 

At one point we stop, and the sack is quickly removed from my head. We’re in a different room now. At least there’s some light. My systems beam to keep me calm and collected. 

As a bunch of army men remove the hoods from the other robots, I keep looking around.

We sure make up a funny scene. Fell, the taller among us, almost reaches 6.9. Lust, on the other hand, is the shorter: he must be about 6.0. But I still feel tiny and defenseless in here. 

The room we’re in is wide, with a greenish ceiling. It’s not furnished. Aside from the soldiers, only men in white coats populate the room. All male, all white. Not all of them in good shape. What kind of army is this? Are they clones or what? 

A white man in a blue suit, with white hair combed on the side, sits on a chair. And a shadow climbs up a ramp of stair on a side. It looks… familiar.

Then I see him.

No.

Not him. Not this man.

“Welcome, robots, to the United States Army. I guarantee you your time will be tremendously great, and I don’t mean that in a braggadocious way.”


	6. Chants Of Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are the robots completely hopeless now?

**Classic** : 

I remember watching TV with Alphys, during mid-autumn and winter. Watching grimy news, stories of hatred and sadness and rage that no self-respecting anchorman would love to report.

One name would always surge: John MacLeod.

He was the President of the United States. No one had ever thought that he’d be elected. Apparently, we trusted humans more than we should. 

It was hard having him around. He was like a bacteria, sent from the sewers to destroy us all. Everything in him grossed us all out. Undyne always said that he would have made an amazing bullseye for her spears. 

_No, no. Don’t think about her. Focus on the present._

“Untie them.” MacLeod says. The cuffs that kept us bound slip away from our wrists and dangle against the ground. “Let them move freely. They mustn’t rot.”

I’m tempted to attack, but armed soldiers surround us. They’d drill me to shreds before I can even lift my cannon. And then, what would Alphys say? And my fans?

_I have to go back. I WILL go back._

The grey-haired white man walks towards us. He stares at us with cold eyes.

“I’m General Michael Cent, and the man you see right there is President John MacLeod. From now on, he’ll be your master.”

“Master?” Keep’s voice is shrill. “I’m a king! You can’t do this to me!”

“Oh, we can. Of course we can.” the President laughs. “You robots will be a tremendous opportunity for the United States Of America. And you have to deal with it. You’re ours now. No one knows where you are.”

“Alphys is looking for me.” Swap wails. “She’s the Captain of the Royal Guards. You don’t stand a chance against us. Just wait for Professor Undyne to locate me, and… and my cousin Napstaton. He’ll beat you to pieces!”

“You robots make me laugh.” MacLeod says with a chuckle. His swollen orange face makes me want to puke. “You’re hilarious.”

“Your freak friends will never find you here.” Cent chuckles.

“Don’t call us that!” Outer shouts. MacLeod laughs out loud, drool slipping on his chin. “Can you see them, Mikey? They’re so cute when they beg!”

“Look at the small one with that ridiculous bowtie!” Cent points at a shaking Lust. He’s hugging himself, his lips clenched. “And that feminine one with long hair! Pathetic!”

“I… I see.” Negative mutters. He stares at the ground confusedly.

Soon all the soldiers seem to be obsessed with describing what they see. “He’s wearing lingerie! What is he, a prostitute?” “And the one with the cracked face? Did he get into a fight with some bad hombre?” “And look at this ridiculous blue one! Is he an astronaut or what?”. Soldiers laugh and talk at the same time. Our legs are sexy, our bodies are racy, we look like perfectly served meat for them. Instinctively I walk backwards, almost tripping against Tomb’s leg. He turns to me, his eyes dilated in fear. 

“Come here, darling.” I whisper. “They’re catcallers. They don’t bite.”

Negative and Lust also race towards us, holding hands. Then Keep, and Outer, and Waste and Swap. We form a circle in the middle of the room. And with them next to me, I feel the tiniest bit safe.

But wait. Where’s…

A scream pierces the air. “Nooo!” I turn to my side. Fell is walking backwards, his arms lifted against his face like a shield. “Stay away!”

“Come on!" one of the soldiers chuckles. He’s aiming a gun at my four-armed friend. “Let me play, pretty freak! Let’s see what eye I can shoot!”

“Do not shoot me. I am… please!”

Fell’s voice is cracking. No, darling, don’t cry. Not here. Not in front of that horrible man. I take a step forward. All the soldiers load their guns with an echoing click. 

Fell’s eyes widen. His mouth is opened agape. 

“Do not touch meee!” he wails. Then he lifts his upper left hand and strikes the man in the face. An unsettling crack sounds loudly throughout the room. 

_Woah_. We pull closer to each other. The man lies on his side, curled up on himself, moaning in pain. I look for the face of the President. He looks untouched by what he just saw.

“Feisty.” he comments. “Tremendous rage, I see. He’ll do good.”

“Good for what?” Lust asks. “W-What is your plan for us?”

“Like I said before, you’re in the American army now.” General Cent says. “You’ll fight for the country. Against terrorists and the enemies of America.”

“We are singers, not soldiers.” I grunt. “Stars. You know? What you always call yourself.”

MacLeod chuckles even louder.

“Look at the dollies, Mikey.”. He walks down towards us, and we all dart backwards. I pull myself to the front. He’ll have to walk on me before he gets to my friends.

“Fell, darling. Come here.” I call. Fell is still where he was before, staring into the void. “Come with us. I’ll protect you.”

Fell takes a couple steps, but he’s immediately stopped when the president stares at him. His eyes are blocked open, his hands shake. “Stay away from him!” Waste orders.

“He’s fragile. Please.” Swap begs.

“Fragile? This terrific thing? He’ll be the highlight of our army.” He turns to him and sneers. Fell shrieks, stepping back once more.

“Aw, is the poor killing machine scared of big bad Johnny?” He chuckles, raising his hands and shaking his fingers. “Snarl! Snarl! I’m the evil President and I’m coming to eat you!”

Then Fell’s upper left hand lifts up again. This time, I joyfully watch as he strikes the President’s cheek. His pained groan causes some kind of sadistic joy within me. I hated that man enough already when he was on screen. I hate him even more now I see him in person. 

“That’ll do.” Waste giggles behind my back. 

Then, the President gets up from the floor. He wipes his bloody face with his sleeve. And he aims his chubby orange finger towards Fell, roaring in rage.

“Blaft him!” he shouts. “Blaft that abominafion! Punifh him already!”

“Look.” it’s Swap. He pulls at my arm so that I look in a direction. I see a pale man in a white coat, holding in his hand something that looks like a remote control. He presses some keys onto it, looking straight at Fell.  

The four-armed android pulls his hands to his throat and produces some pained whines. They turn into wails, than into screams, than into blood-curdling shrieks. He falls to his knees, sobbing, wrapping all four of his hands around his choker and pulling it like a rope tied around his neck.

I remember the first day, when I was still planning on using the cannon. I felt a pain in my neck that turned into a whole body ache. These chokers. I should have known.

Fell’s screams suddenly cease and falls down on his side, unconscious. MacLeod kicks him on the shoulder.

“No! Stop! Please! Let him go!” I call out. I want to run towards my unconscious friend and fight to protect him. I can. I must. I’m a star and he’s my fan.

“Now, take the robots away!” General Cent orders. 

Before I can even react, a loud pain pierces me. I fall to my knees, screaming my throat out. I see Waste collapsing on the side, Tomb burying his face in his arms, Lust coughing and sobbing. My body is exploding. I can’t breathe, I can’t see.

And I slip away, screaming into the darkness.

 

My whole body quivers as I open my eyes. Ugh, the headache…

Where am I?

The ceiling is blurred, a mosaic of lightbulbs covers my sight. My head throbs. I close my eyes, moaning in pain. My head, my face, my body… Damn!

The floor I’m lying against is cozy. A mattress, it seems. Robotic moans and wails surround me. They’re with me.

I need to rest. I take long deep breaths, trying to recover from all this.

I hate you, President MacLeod.

I loathe you and your legacy.

 

Later on my headache dampens, and I begin to search around. Me and my robot friends have been transferred again.

It’s an empty room. Nine blank mattresses cover the floor and form a square. I lay in the exact middle. On my left side there’s Lust, laying on his back with his hands on his face. And on my left lies the red, battered body of Fell.

He’s the only one who’s fully awake. He lays facedown, his four arms all covering his face. I hear a melody coming from him.

I crawl towards his mattress, hypnotized. I never heard him sing. Is he as bad as he says? 

But as I reach his back and hear the lyrics of his sad chant, I reconsider.

 

“ _I want to smile with you_

_With my fingers I touch the sky_

_And tell you my thoughts_

_And learn about life_

_I want to see your eyes_

_So clear and endless so far_

_And tell you my fears_

_And learn about the stars_

_Mother, I know you want to_

_Look me in the face and caress my hair_

_And I also know you_

_Do not leave me wondering out there_

 

_I beg you listen_

_And prize me with a stroke_

_But if you can not_

_I will never let you go_

_I do not want to leave just yet_

_I want to feel your hands_

_But if you can not_

_I will never leave again_

 

_Mother, I know you want to_

_Look me in the face and caress my hair_

_And I also know you_

_Do not leave me wondering out there_

_Mother, I know you want to_

_Look me in the face and caress my hair_

_And I also know you_

_Do not leave me wondering out there_ ”

 

He mumbles, hugging his head and rolling side to side. 

“Fell?”

He quickly turns his head to me, his eyes wide in fear. The poor darling must still be startled. 

“It’s a lovely song.” I tell him. “Did you write it yourself?”

“I writed it.” he whispers. “It is for my mom. I sing it when I am scared. And now…”

He pauses, rubbing his four hands all over his face. “I am very scared. And sad.”

“I know, darling.” I say. “You were very brave with that old twerp.”  
“I am not brave.” he snivels. “I am a coward. I hate myself. I never asked…”

“To be made, I know.” I cut him off. “You shouldn’t feel like this. You did an amazing job. You have no idea how many people would want to see you striking that horror of a man in the face. You made him bleed!”

I expect him to lighten up. Instead, he pulls his hands on his face again and squeals. 

What did I do now?

“What is it, sweetie? Did I scare you?”

“Bleed.” he says. “Bleed. He always says that.”

His voice is as shaky as his body. “Boss wants me to bleed. He hits me all the time.”

I pull myself backwards, confused. I’ve triggered him. 

Why is he like this? Why is he so fragile and easy to break? People have been so mean to him, now pretty much everything is a trigger?

I shrug, looking at his shriveled up face. Maybe it is. Maybe this “Fell” universe he comes from is really that mean, they took a confident superstar and made him into this self-hating creature. And I’ll treat him the way that fits him. We don’t need more pain.

“I want to cry, but I can not cry.” he mumbles. “Boss…”

I smile for him, letting him rest his head on my lap. My dear, fragile friend. You’ve ben through so much. You’ve had an awful day. It’s time to end it for now.

“Cry as long as you like, my beloved Fell. Let go of everything. Boss isn’t here..”

As I lift my head, I realize the other seven robots have crawled around us. They all look worn out and weak. Lust is still shaking. Negative’s hair cover his face. Tomb’s jaw is bleeding. Even Keep moves meekly. His makeup is melted.

“We are here with you. We love you. We love each other. And we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Classic is right.” Outer proclaims. “Nobody will stop us!”

Fell curls up in a ball, moaning. “Sleep, my sweet darling. Now I’ll sing for you.”

With these words, I curl up on the side and kiss him on the forehead.

 

**Outer** :

Poor dear. He’s been too brave for him to handle.

As he sobs his way to sleep I lay next to him. I too need a hug. I’m so tired and weak. But I can fight back. I will. I swear on all I know. 

Negative’s head rests against my lap. His eyes too are bulging.

“I’m in pain”.

 

**Negative** : 

“I’m in pain”.

I’m scared. Where are we? Why did Alphys send me here? My whole body is a mess. I want to cry too, but I can’t. I’m just very confused.

Outer holds me close to him, caressing me. At least he’s nice to me. But I miss Alphys so much. What’s going on? 

 

**Lust** :

My body, my poor body. I can barely breathe. I’ve never been so in pain since…

I lay on an empty mattress, covering my face. We don't even have blankets, and I need so badly to cover myself up. I want to go home. I don’t want to be a killing machine.

Tears well up within my eyes. 

What did I do to deserve this?

 

**Waste** :

“Lustie?”

He’s a mess, he looks even more fragile than sweet Fell. 

“Come here. Don’t stay on your own.”.

As long as they don’t go _there,_ I’m ok. I can handle soldiers. I have skills they don’t know about.

“Stop your crying. It’ll be ok.”

He races to my chest and sobs in it. 

“I don’t want to be hurt! Not again!”

 

**Tomb** :

My head burns, my face is exploding. The sound of the other robots crying surround me like a funerary march.

I hate this place. If hate is something I know, than it is.

I rest on another mattress, rubbing my hands on my forehead.

I want to scream. I need to scream.

 

**Swap** :

It’s an nightmare, it has to be. Why are we here? I can’t breathe!

Blooky, please, if you’re listening…

If you can…

Prove me that man is lying. 

Save me. I know you can.

 

**Keep** :

How dare they treat me this way?

How dare they hurt me?

They’ll pay for this, I swear. I’ll make them pay…

Before they destroy us all first.

A king has to protect his people, doesn’t he? Thats what I heard.

 

**Fell** :

I want my mom. I want my mom. I want to go home. I want my mom. 

I am sorry, so sorry. I should not exist. I am a freak. I hurt that man. I know my hands can slap strong, but I do not want to. Bad robot, bad robot, bad robot. 

Die.

Die.

Die.

I hate myself. I am a mistake. I can only hurt other people. Please. 

Stay with me, Classic. I beg you.

Someone. For me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fell's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdNnkhUwwV8
> 
> It comes from an obscure Italian animated movie from the early 2000s.   
> The creepy CGI baby is Sara. She's waiting to be born, but her mother Francesca is scared whether or not to have her because "the world is an evil place", which'd send her back to the "Children's Room" in the skies. So she sings about wanting to be with her mom. I roughly translated it in English, changing a few words, but making the basic meaning stay the same. 
> 
> Also, there's a bit of a Steven Universe feel with "we love each others". I actually made a model of the Nine Mettatons with a Crystal Gem dollmaker. You can see it HERE: http://i67.tinypic.com/2rqzsxh.jpg.
> 
> Also also, I ended up listening to a lot of Vocaloid songs while preparing myself for this video, such as Hitorinbo Envy by Matsudappoyo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53UH8gXiOY&t=72s), which is also Fell's head canon voice.


	7. Action And Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jealousy, anger issues, and a new arrival.

**Lust:**

Tonight I had a bad dream. The same one I have been having for two months now. 

I woke up in shambles, my SOUL beating inside my belt. I sit up, huffing in the darkness. My SOUL is throbbing.

Poor thing, it’s so broken. It’s shaking like a malfunctioning computer. “Shh, small one. Don’t agitate. It’s over now. It’s… it’s in the past. I need to focus.”

I rub my hands on my face, trying to compose myself. It’s hard in this room. It’s not my own. Alphys arranged a new lighting system for me after that night. Bright lights confort me. They’re among the few things I like in my Underground. Neons are pretty popular among us.

As I look around to reconnect with my environment, I realize all this time I’ve been sleeping in Waste’s lap. His almost naked body is slender, very tall. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t really mean anything. Alphys always tells me that I am beautiful, and I’ve stopped believing her a  long time ago. 

I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. Since I was a Blook, I’ve always felt like I didn’t belong in that Underground.But now… now I’m surrounded by robots who all look like me. Being next to them is enough to make me calm down even in this distress. I’ve never felt so… fitting.

And Waste… I wish I could know him better.

As I curl up again, next to the mattress, I wonder if he hates himself the same way I do.

 

 **Outer** :

We all wake up at the break of dawn. It’s Classic who wakes us. He whispers sweet words in our ears, caressing each of us. He asks Lust about the condition of his SOUL. He helps Waste up like a gentleman. And gives Fell a hug when he pulls his arms to his face, as if he was expecting to be struck or something. _Poor thing._

“So, if everyone is ok… let’s put our robotic intelligence to use.” he says, looking around the room.

“I’m tired” Keep moans. “A king can’t get up so early”.

“But you’re no longer a king.” I intervene. “You’re a prisoner, now. And prisoners tend to have a couple obligations.”

Keep grunts. Since yesterday he’s been pretty quiet. It’s a relief for all of us not seeing him throw his usual tantrums. I guess what we’ve been through has broken his ego as well. How long will it take before breaking us all’

Fell raises a hand, fidgeting with his gloves. “I am not intelligent. I am sorry if I do not help. I know I am useless and…”

“You aren’t useless. Please, listen to me.” he says. “Beauties… we need to get away.”

I miss Alphys. I take a deep breath, looking around. Is she looking for me? Will she search the galaxy to find me? 

Waste moves towards him. “The light. We can start from there. I could… I have some skills in technology. Maybe I can do something with it.”

“Where did you learn?” Lust asks curiously. Waste chuckles. “Spare time. This body… I helped build it.”

Swap brings his hands to his chest. “You’re amazing!”. “Oh, stop it. Just trying to get around!” Waste laughs again, his eyes shining despite the shade. 

Suddenly, a banging noise startles us. Negative brings his hands to his face. Fell squeals. Tomb steps backwards. 

Here they come. 

 

 **Waste** : 

I walk to the center of the room, taking deep breaths. _It’ll be ok,_ I tell myself. _It’ll be ok_. In all these years, I’ve developed a nice ability in lying to myself.

_It’s ok, they’re with you. They won’t send you on your own in the cave of the wolf. They have your back._

_At least I hope_ , I think as the door opens.

The soldiers come in holding guns to our faces. Five, seven, ten… then twenty at least. They form a circle around us, trapping us like the ants that populate the wastelands. 

“On the ground, robots”, a harsh voice screams. We all duck, covering our heads. We must look like a bunch of captured preys. Quite unfitting for killer robots. 

For a while, the room stays silent. Aside from Fell’s whimpers, Keep’s grunts and Tomb’s deep breaths, no sound breaks the quiet that covers us.

Then one of the soldier speaks. I can’t see who it is, my eyes are aiming towards the ground.

“Three of you. With us”.

I clench my lips. With them? The idea of leaving this room sends shivers down my back. I don’t care how selfish it all sounds: I don’t want to leave this room. Someone else has to go. _The perfect mentality of the selfish wench_ , a voice in my head whispers, but I try to muffle her. 

“I’ll go.” Outer immediately says. I hear him get up behind me “You got one.”

“I said three.” The soldier says. 

Go with him, go, I try to convince myself, but it’s of no effort. I hear someone getting up on my side. No one’s speaking. I assume it’s Tomb.

“One more.” The soldier orders. “Are you to choose?”

We stay silent, pulling ourselves closer to each other. 

“Do you want me to choose?” His steps roam all over my head. _Please, please, don’t take me, please, I’m scared…_

“You”.

Keep’s voice is loud and irritated. “Why me? You can’t! How dare you?”

 

 **Keep** :

How dare they do this to me? I’m not here to be the sacrificial lamb. I’m still a king, even in between walls. A king deserves a corp of guards for his protection. You don’t throw him into the waiting hands of the enemy like a piece of meat.

“No!” I scream as they lift me up and push me towards the exit. “I didn’t approve this! Send someone else! Please!”

“Keep!” Outer’s voice is a bucket of cold water aimed at my face. “Shut up. It’s for your own good.” Tomb’s face is also aiming at me, his expression just as glacial.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” I hiss. The loaded guns surround me like snakes ready to attack. 

I’m scared. This is not my place. 

“Go, Keep.” Classic says. “It’ll be ok.”

“Shut up, robot.” one of the soldier says. “All of you, shut up. We’ll seal your filthy metal mouths if you don’t shush.”

The words chill me. I bring my hands to my chest, shaking. I’m about to pass out. I’m about to throw up. I’m about to… I don’t know. Everything is such a mess I don’t even know what I’m feeling. I want wrap myself in my cape like a shell, and cry myself to sleep, and wake up in the arms of Baroness Undyne or Marquess Alphys. 

But they’ve probably forgotten about me already. I don’t even have my cape anymore: I left it in the container where we were locked. I’m defenseless. I’m a king with no crown.

I slouch towards the entrance, the blue android in front of me, the black one behind me, wondering how much of me will be left when it’s all over.

 

 **Classic** :

As the door slams behind us, I cross my fingers, hoping they end up ok. Even Keep: he’s a spoiled brat, but he’s still a Mettaton. I feel like it’s my duty to protect them: all of them. 

I’m sorry for the three that were taken, but I believe it’s the least bad thing right now. Lust, Swap, Negative and Fell are too fragile to undergo whatever’s out there, and we need Waste here, to try and conjure up a plan.

“But what about me?” I wonder as I get up. “Shouldn’t I have lifted my hands for them?”. 

The thought chills me. Yet again, I’ve been selfish. I thought I was over that… My hands shake. I have to sit. 

Outer is brave, Tomb is well-minded, but Keep… I’m beginning to think staying wasn’t the best idea. Why am I always so selfish and cowardly? Why can’t I, for once, think about others?

The other robots look at me in awe. Their expressions shine of eagerness and curiosity. 

“Are you ok?” Swap asks, leaning his hands towards me. 

 _Sweet Swap_ , I think as I crawl towards him. He reminds me so much of Napstablook. Maybe that’s what we are in his world: swapped. Maybe his presence will reassure me. 

“Ok, beauties!” I proclaim. “Let’s get moving.”

Fell is strong enough to lift up Waste without any effort. His four hands form a platter in which he can stand, with Lust, Swap, Negative and me supporting him from the sides. 

“What do you think?” I ask. 

“Not much.” he sighs. “Maybe in this light… I can find some small object to take down the door.”

“It’s old.” Lust confirms. “They didn’t think putting us here all the way through.”

“This, my darling, seems to be a common occurrence with MacLeod” I quip.

 

 **Tomb** : 

The corridor is long, dark, but it doesn’t scare me. I’ve seen so many scarier things in my life. I take deep breaths as I’m lead through the darkness. My leg itches, I need to sit. Outer walks on my side, holding my hand. If it makes him feel better, I can comply. But I feel no comfort in this. How is holding my hand going to reduce the pain of what we’ll go through?

Keep is carried behind us. Yet again, he started agitating and they had to bind and gag him, this time with duct tape. 

I don’t understand his actions. We’re going to be hurt anyway: why bother move around and make the hurt even more painful. It feels like he could break down into tears yet again. Is this what they call a king?

At least, he’s somehow more honorable than the so-called president MacLeod. He waits for us in the middle of the room. His skin is as orange as vomit, and he wears an out-of-fashion suit with a huge red tie. I wish the rest of the Underground was here: with maces, axes and saws, to tear him to pieces.

And I thought I hated blood and gore. I sigh, and my jaw pulsates. 

“Good morning, my beloved robotic guard.” he giggles, rubbing his hands. It looks as if orange dust could fall off them at any moment. Like Alphys when she’s scaling. _Ew_.

Outer holds my hand tighter. I appreciate how at least he’s trying to be brave and composed. At least he approaches the situation more practically. 

“Now, you three have the fortune of being chosen first for my tremendous project. My loyal partner, captain Jeff Suctions, will instruct you on what you’ll be doing.”

Keep begins to moan under his restrains. 

“How about you first, little robot?”. Suctions, a man with ash-white hair and a pear-shaped face, kneels over the bound ex-king. He mumbles something under the tape, causing all the soldiers to laugh. Outer’s hand tightens around my own.

“He’ll do. Take him.” 

Just as I expected. His relentless behavior is going to hurt us all. 

Keep is lifted upwards and his binds are cut out. He looks around, meekly, his eyes glistening as if he was about to cry. He walks past us, staring at the ground in a defeated fashion.

Then he throws himself on the side. I hear MacLeod scream as his robotic hands reach his face. 

 

 **Fell** :  

Waste is really a smart and nice robot. I wish I was as smart as he is. 

After Outer, Keep and Tomb has leaved the room, he worked a lot. He was really sweet when he thanked me after I lifted him up. I do not know what he did, but it was probably a very smart and interesting thing. 

“Thanks a lot, sweetie. Your strength is a great help for our cause.” he said. And then he gived me a kiss on the cheek. I never receive kisses on the cheek. They always slap me on the cheek. 

“What did you do?” Negative asks. 

“I, my dear darling, have come up with a plan to break us all free.”

Free? The thought gets my attention. Maybe we are not going to stay locked in here as I thinked before. We can get out, away from these mean men. We can go home.

Yes, home, to mom Mom will not be glad to see me when I come back. She will get angry, ask where I was, and hit me with the wrench. Go to your room, Mettaton, and do not you dare come back until I say so. You are a mistake. You are worthless. You deserve to die…

And what about Boss? Will he want me back? He selled me, after all. He taked me and tied me up and putted a rag in my mouth and he hitted me strong. He hates me. Everybody does. 

I sit down, confused. The others are cheering on Waste for being so clever. I wish someone cheered on me once. I am not as smart like him. I am too worthless to be cheered on. My eyes are welling up and I feel ridiculous. I can not even look at Waste without feeling something bad. Like I not wanted him to be happy and have the compliments.

It is a bad feeling. I do not want it. I am sorry. He kissed me on the cheek and I am hating him anyway.

“Fell?” Negative asks me. “Are you ok?”

Before I can say anything, steps come close to the door. We move away, all sitting on our mattresses.

The door opens with a slam. Another soldier looks at us with anger. His frown reminds me of Boss, and now I am scared. I want someone to hold my hand. Classic, maybe.

“You don’t want to collaborate, robots?” he asks with a sour voice. “Now get out and see what we do to little rebels.”

We nod and walk out in a line. I am the last, but Classic is in front of me. It is like having a shield. Does Undyne have shields? Maybe I must ask her. 

“You think you can defy us?” the soldier asks. “We’ll have to teach you the hard way!”

What happened out there?

 

**???:**

Blooky waits for me in the main room of the lab. With the reflective glasses he’s wearing I can’t see his eyes, but I know he’s angry at me. I understand. I should have done better.

“Took you long enough, dear cousin.” he says with a smirk. Oh, his lips, his smooth thin lips. I would give him anything just for one more moment to look at them. 

“I’m sorry, sir.” I say with an embarrassed chuckle. “I will do better, I promise. I know you deserve better.”

“Always better.” He gets up from his chair, swinging his long black coat behind his back, and struts towards me on his killer heels. Every gesture of his is on the brim of perfection. The confident posture of his steps, the self-reliance of his demeanor… I truly am a lucky monster for having the bliss of knowing him. I sigh, as he grabs my face in between his hands. His gloves are silky and thick, but I know he could crush me at any moment. He’s such a strong, powerful monster, and I respect every inch of it.

“Are you ready to follow me on a mission, you little maggot?” he asks. His tongue bursts out of his lips, so close to my own. I’m shaking, but I manage to nod.

“I’m always ready for you, sir.” I whisper. “I’ll follow you to the end of the world.”

“Prove it to me, then.” Napstaton caresses my cheek. “I’ve been given a perilous assignment by a very… powerful customer. I’ll need some help from my favorite little cousin.”

It takes me all my effort to stay focused as he speaks.

“Do you want to see some new places?”

“Yes, sir. I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be another MTT from another AU. Guess which one it is.


	8. Shattered Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keep gets his comeuppance.  
> TW: gorey imagery at the end

**Outer** :

“Come! Move! Don’t make us shoot you.”  
I hold Tomb’s hand tighter into mine. He’s shorter than me, but his cold expression is just enough to reassure me, a little bit. I’m even more scared than before.

Keep, oh Keep, why did you do it?

The President, or so he calls himself, is gone. He ran away after Keep punched him in the face. For what I managed to see, he broke his nose.

The though of it, while out of place, makes me chuckle. Whatever happens, at least I got to witness that.

But as me and Tomb pace through the corridors, his hand into mine, his stare lost into the distance as if nothing could phase him, as if anything ever could, even that thought seems to slip away and transform into a blind, cold fear.

This is it.

Alphys… I see her face through a curtain of stars, smiling in my direction as she says goodbye to me. Napstablook’s cold, watery eyes shine through the same curtain, like a warm bonfire in a freezing night. All my fans, all their faces blend together in my iris, in one last goodbye. 

“Tomb?” I whisper. He immediately turns to me. His red eye is expressionless, but his lips quiver through the crack that disfigures his face. 

“If anything happens…” I take a deep breath as we turn another corridor. “Will you… remember me? Because I will.”

Tomb nods his head slowly. Then he leans his chin on his chest, slumping his shoulders. 

He too is done with all this mess. 

Will I be ready to take it? My fingers clench tighter against his. I want to. I need to. 

And Keep… I wonder where he is now? His payback will be worse than my own, but I feel no pity for him. I can’t help but think that he deserves it, at least more than we all do. 

And I’m ashamed of my own thoughts.

 

 **Negative** : 

We are all seated in the middle of the courtyard, side by side. Six of us, in the cold, surrounded by bad men with weapons. 

I feel fear. 

At least I think this is fear, I never knew it. But I know… something tells me… That I’m scared. 

Come on, don’t be so grouchy, I tell myself as I adjust my position between Lust and Swap. I have my friends to turn up to. They are here for me, they can protect me. 

I stutter for a moment. Why do I need protection?

“What kind of show is this?” I ask Lust. “They have a big audience. I’m so glad they managed to bring in so many.”

Lust’s one visible eye widens in terror. “Show? Audience? Are you insane? They will hurt us. They will hurt us, you hear?” He grits his teeth, holding Waste’s hand. 

“Lustie, please. It’s ok, maybe they just… just aren’t content with what we have done for now.”

“We haven’t done nothing.” Lust grunts. “And yet, they still want us dead.”

“Lust.” Waste’s voice gets harsher. “Don’t say that, ok? Maybe they’ll just… reprimand us. You never know.”

“Or maybe they won’t.”

Lust hides his face in his hands and buries it into his knees. His voice morphs into a confused, muffled whine. I’ve never seen or heard anyone do this. It’s… unsettling. I dart backwards, almost tripping on Swap’s legs. 

When I turn back to Lust, Waste’s arm is wrapped around his back, and his free hand rubs his hair. 

“Negative…” he whispers in his sulky, high-pitched voice. “Please, leave him be.”

I’m kind of sad for Lust. I wish I could help him with his little down. But if Waste asks, I’ll comply. It's not a big thing for me.

Suddenly, Fell’s finger lifts up into the air. 

“Look.”

 

 **Classic** :

A troop of guards trot off from a door. Four in total, all armed, all with the same face. After them come Tomb and Outer, holding each others’ hands. And then more soldiers. 

Fell’s hand tightens around my own. He’s surprisingly unaffected by what he’s seeing, as if it was a spectacle from between a glass. Or maybe he’s been through so much it’s just none of his business anymore.

“With the others. Move, you disgusting pieces of scrap!” one of the soldier screams. Tomb and Outer run towards us, their hands intertwined, and sit in between us blending among our forms. 

“What happened?” I ask. Outer takes deep breaths, staring into the nothingness. Tomb lets go of his hand, and looks at me with his cold red eye. He lifts his hands above his head, mimicking a crown. He bumps his fists one against the other. He raises his open palms in front of himself and closes them. 

“Keep.” I whisper.

“Punched” Waste comes in next to me. 

“The President” we both exclaim.

I need to sit. I knew Keep was reckless, but this is a new low. How could he do something like this? 

“But Fell slapped him in the face, and he didn’t react like this.”

“Fell is more precious for him. He’s big, strong, easily manipulated.” Outer intervenes in a whisper, so that the directly involved doesn't hear him. “Keep… he’s among the most useless among us. And he’s been belligerent from the start. I heard them talking as they took us out.”  
“But how could they know what we were doing while in the container?” Lust asks.

“They were filming us.” Outer mumbles.

They were filming nine superstars, how ironic. I would love to have a chuckle right now, but I really don’t feel like it. 

Suddenly, the main door to the courtyard opens again.

More soldiers are coming in. And in the middle of the fray, completely immobilized, Keep awaits.

 

 **Swap** :

From here, it’s hard to see him. The closer he moves to us, however, the more we see his humiliation.

He’s completely naked, with only shreds of his regal clothing dangling from his arms and legs, and his silver body shines against the faint sun like a piece of glass in a junkyard. However, his face is covered by a thick black cloak placed upon his head, so wide it reaches his waist, with black duct tape wrapped around his neck so that it doesn’t slip. His hands are bound in front of him with more duct tape, that wraps around them like gloves.

I instantly dart backwards, but a cold presence behind my back makes me shiver. It’s a gun. 

“Bring the robots close, thank you.” an unwelcome voice screams. It’s that so-called president again. He sits next to the restrained Keep, caressing his naked arm. I shiver. _Please, don’t touch me. Please don’t._

“Get up, darlings.” Classic chants. And we get up, walking meekly towards the spot where the unfortunate robot lies. 

“Keep!” Waste calls, but a soldier behind him slaps him behind his head with a mace. “Shut up, you pieces of junk.”

The President’s face is a mess, to say the least. Both his eyes are black, his nose is bloody, and his mouth looks chipped. I freeze in post. Only holding Classic’s free hand is enough to bring me back to life. _Please, don’t hurt me_. 

“It looks like…” the President pauses, staring at us with his piggly eyes. “You robots just don’ know when to comply.”

“He’s right!” General Cent screams. “You should obey us. We are America!”

“What a bad speech.” Waste chuckles. Seeing him so cheerful reassures me more. Maybe it won’t be as bad as it seems. 

“And since your little friend…” Cent points at the bound Keep, who moves his head around under the cloak confusedly. Muffled noises come from underneath. They gagged him. “Has decided that he wants to play the part of the national robotic hero… we’ll have to teach him that bad people aren’t welcome in the land of the free.”

Soldiers grab Keep’s shoulders, setting him on the ground on his back. He screams. I instantly move closer to the others, unable to breathe. 

_Blooky, please. Please, don’t abandon me again…_

Then, one of the soldiers lifts up something long… and silvery… 

A sledgehammer. 

My head shakes, my feet collapse. Only Outer’s strong arms, soon followed by Fell’s, are enough to hold me. 

Classic is staring at the scene, numb. Lust hugs himself. Tomb looks down at his feet. Waste covers his face with his hands. Negative covers his eyes. Outer and Fell hold me. The first one is appalled, the latter looks like he’s about to pass out too. 

And Keep…

He shrieks one more time before the sledgehammer reaches his cloaked face. 

 

 **Waste** : 

I hear the crunch before I can close my eyes. It’s like a needle, piercing in my skull. I can feel it. My legs give in. Before I know it, I kneel on the grass, tears are running on my face, and the sledgehammer is preparing for another hit.

 

 **Negative** : 

It strikes again. 

And Keep is screaming. 

And his body is crunching. 

 

 **Lust** :

The third time it reaches his chest.   
Above the soul.

The crunch… 

Is like a cold hand suffocating me. 

 

 **Tomb** :

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. 

Four times, five, six. I count them like an executioner. 

Every crunch is followed by a scream from Keep.

 

 **Classic** :

The fourth and fifth time they break his legs.

 

 **Swap** :

The sixth, they aim for his chest. 

 

 **Outer**.

The seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth blow… I can’t even see where it lands. My vision is blurred. I’m about to throw up.

 

 **Fell** :

I’m scared I am so so scared mom mom mom I want my mom please mom come get me I am scared please please please I never asked to be made please mom help me please…

 

 **Tomb** :

And then… it stops. Like a rollercoaster who ran out of power.

Keep lies in a puddle of oil, motionless. Not even a whine comes from under the cloak. 

“I hope that was enough.” the President mumbles. And then he leaves, waling out of the courtyard as if nothing had happened. 

I look around. Three robots are crying: Waste, Lust and Fell. Fell’s I won’t even call crying. He’s sitting on his knees, two hands covering his eyes, two others his ears, and he screams and sobs. Negative stumbles about, looking dazed. Swap lays on his side. He’s fainted.

Outer is on his fours, shaking and huffing, and Classic kneels on the grass, looking at his knees. He’s also shaking. They all shake. But I do not.

I remember the first time I saw someone’s head getting squished to bits. I didn’t even have the grace to have it covered by a cloak. It was a Gyftrot, getting caught up in another one of Snowdin’s pranks. One of the Dogs had a mace. And I was there, trying to find a new idea for a unique reportage. Instead I saw a bloody murder. Not the first, not the last.

We have to take Keep away. I wonder if he can be cured. Or helped somehow. But I will never be able to lift him up. 

Fell is probably the only one among us that’s strong enough. Too bad he’s busy crying. There’s other things to do right now. 

I walk to him, sitting on his side. I grab his shoulder. He immediately lifts up his head, staring at me in fear.

“No… no, please, no!”

I sigh, signing him to come.

“No… no…” he whispers. “Hurt him. They hurt him. So much blood. Like Boss… Boss did these things. He made me cover the snow in oil. And he covered my face too. Boss… Boss is a cruel monster. I do not want to come to him. Tomb…”

I sigh again. My hands reach his face, caressing his cheek in a motion that wants so hard to be tender. I stare into his four wide eyes, clench my fingers around his shaky shoulders, and tangle up my fingers in his uncombed hair. 

_I can’t talk, but I wish I could, just to tell you something you need to know about this._

Fell takes deep breaths, almost chewing up the air around him. 

 _Come with me,_ I whisper mentally. _Come help me. You’re the only one who can._

Fell breathes in and out, his eyes looking as if they’re about to pop out of his skull. 

“I go… get… Keep?” he asks. 

I nod, pointing at his arms. They’re long and reedy, but I’ve seen their strength. 

“I must get him.” he moans, lifting himself up. “Take him… away, I think. In the cell. I wanted someone to hold me when Boss hurted me. I always wanted to be holded. Keep wants too.”

I walk past him. We reach the cloaked body of Keep, and his spread oil soaks our boots. 

_Poor thing._


	9. Attempts Of Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fell has familiar memories, Waste tries to be helpful, Swap remembers his cousin and ??? is on a mission.

**Fell:**

Is Keep still here?

I have oil all over my boots. It is very gross and bad. It makes me feel very bad. But Keep is feeling badder, and he needs help.

“Keep?”

He whines from under the cloak that covers his battered body. He is still there. 

“Hello.” I whisper, kneeling on his side. His body shakes and hiccups. 

I’m scared. “T-Tomb, can we uncover him?”. He nods. My hands shake and move to the cloak. Keep whines and sobs. 

“C-Can we?”

Tomb nods again. He keels on his other side and unwraps the duct tape like if Keep was a package. Is it not rude? Maybe I must stop him. Or maybe I must not. Then he hates me more than he does now. 

Tomb removes the cloak with a swift swing. The next thing I see… 

I squeal so hard I think I scared some birds up there. _Yes, fly away from here. Leave, free and happy. I wish I can come with._

Keep’s face simply is no more. His eyes are naked balls with no expression that drip oil all over the broken glass on his cheeks. His head is open like an egg and drips all over the grass. His arms are both cracked in the middle, the part with the hand disconnected with the rest. His chest plate has a gaping hole in the middle, above the Soul. His legs are folded in an unnatural way, and just seeing them makes me shiver in phantom pain.

“Keep.” My voice is a babbled whisper and I am surprised when I see him turn to me. His ball-like eyes cry purple tears that are much prettier than the red slime my eyes produce. I stretch my arms to wipe them, but his mouth produces some words.

“Don… t…”

It is also barely hearable, but I can see he is not content. I knowed it. I maked another mistake. I always make mistakes. Just like Boss says. 

“Excuse him. He’s a little… tweaked. Later I’ll give him some _etiquette_ lessons.”

Or his Dog.

“Hey, Metta-wimp, what will you cry about today? Do you want me to call my bro, so he’ll give you a help?”

Or mom.

“You can’t do anything right. Anything! I don’t know why I even keep you here.”

Or Blooky.

“You’ll never become a star. You have left me for your stupid dream, and it won’t even come true. I hate you. I bloody hate you.”

Just when I am about to go away before I cause even more trouble, I hear another whisper coming from him. 

“Yes, K-Keep?”

“T-Take… me… room…”

Tears run from his eyes, his lips shake. I know this face. I seed it many times before. It was in the mirror of my room, in the glass of mom’s lab, or in the puddle of water in Boss’s shed. 

It is the face of someone who can not take it anymore. 

I smile, and my four arms slither towards him, gently grabbing his back and thighs. His head rests on my chest. 

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes… b-but… keep… go…”

I pull him to my chest like a broken doll. He whimpers, but now I know I must not let go. 

“I will.”

 

**Waste:**

The cell feels like a home. A shelter for nine robots that are now more scared than ever.

Fell places Keep’s body on a mattress, and he whimpers as he does so. Poor thing. Even after all he’s done to me, I still can't accept what was done to him. He looks as if he could pass out at any moment, and then… would he wake up? 

“You should look at him, Waste.” Classic says. “You know technology better than any of us all. Maybe you can save him.”

“I’m not sure.” I sigh. “He looks… out of my field of work. I don’t know what, even if I can do something.” 

“I… I…”

Keep’s voice crackles and breaks. He doesn’t even sound like himself at all. His tone is tearful, frightened. It’s as if he got lost in the Desert of the Wasteland and had to roam it for days, with no food and some drops of water. 

These kinds of people were usually the ones that would flock to my room. After recovering from the heat and fatigue, all they wanted was someone to hold them and make them forget about what they had been through. If they had some money left, my place was the first one they would pop into. 

Some of them, my favorites, just wanted someone to talk to. They told me about their travels, the travel mates they’ve lost, either to the environment or to the raiders. That Papyrus must have more dust on his hands than this entire town. One or two even ended up crying, sobbing inside the cushions that were supposed to support our union. 

But as ashamed as I am of my selfishness, I loved these moments. They gave me more purpose than any loving night could ever. 

Others weren’t as tender. I remember an explorer, a wolf or something, that opened the door with a kick and threw his money on my face. He had belts and ropes, and used his very own shirt to gag me. 

“Keep?” I focus back on our patient to keep myself focused. I’m now surrounded by friends, and nobody will hurt me anymore. If anything, it’s someone else who’s been hurt. And needs me.

“Please…can’t… die…”  
“You will not, darling mine.” I whisper. “You have a kingdom to run, don’t you?”

“No… jokes…” he gurgles. “I.. don’t… ARGH!” He begins sputtering oil, crying uncontrollably.

“Why did they do this?” Outer asks. “Why ruin one of us if we’re so valuable to them?”

The question leaves us in frightened silence, only interrupted by Keep’s coughing and sobbing. We stare at each other, no words coming from our mouths.

“Maybe we’re not.” Lust grunts. “We’re just… things, to them. That they can use and replace at any moment. Hunks of metal with no SOUL.”

“But we have SOULs, darlings.” Classic says. “We are frightened, and we need to rest. We will take turns to take care of Keep.”

He points at the battered body of the purple robot. “He needs a cushion. Would one of us do the job?”

“I can.” Negative chants. He sits next to Keep and rests his bloody head on his own knees. He begins caressing his forehead. “It’s ok. Nothing will happen to you. Just try to rest.”

“He mustn’t rest.” I order. “For now, it’s better for him to stay awake. Stay by his side, Negative. Take good care of him.”

“Do you want a song?” Negative asks. 

“Nhh.” Keep’s voice is a gurgled mess. But Negative simply nods, and keeps stroking him.

I look at him from afar, hoping he doesn’t see the envy in my eyes. 

I was just as blissful as he was, once. I wonder if I will ever know that robot again. 

I have so much to apologize for. 

 

**Swap:**

“C-Can I talk to you, Classic?”

He turns around, looking at me with tired pink eyes. He takes care of us all and we don’t even thank him. He probably hates us. 

Still, even as run-down and battered as he is, he’s still the most beautiful among us all. His ebony hair, his silver skin, and his magnificent rosy eyes… the more I look at them, the brighter they seem to shine. 

He’s a lot like Blooky, in that sense. I wonder if they’re thinking of me, and if they had done something to get me back. Did Captain Alphys tell them that I’ve been taken? 

Would they even care? 

“Of course.” Classic says. “I actually wanted to talk to you first.” He smiles at me. It’s strained, but somehow still feels genuine. What a great star he must be.

“Let’s sit, darling.” he whispers. He grabs my wrist with a gentle gesture and leads me on his mattress. My legs literally buckle under my weight, and only landing on the side stops my fall. 

“Or lay down. The choice is yours, darling.” And with that said he lays down next to me, looking at me in my eyes, smiling softly despite the strain and the pain.

Right now, all of us are laying down and resting. I look from above Classic’s shoulder and see them. Negative rests his back against the walls, his legs acting as a support for poor Keep’s head. Tomb has crossed his arms on his chest. Lust is curled up in a ball. Waste lays facedown. Fell covers his face with his arms. Even Outer looks scared. His arms are sandwiched next to his chest, and hugs himself as if he was cold. 

“I’ve been holding it in since we came here.” he whispers. “I’m frightened, Swap. I want to take care of you. It’s my duty as a star. But… I can’t.” He sighs loudly. “Not for so long, anyway”. 

“I…” I can feel myself blushing. “I’m not a star. I will never understand.”

“Do you like them?” he asks. 

“Who?”  
“Them. The other prisoners.”

I blink awkwardly, my hand clenching around the mattress. It’s the kind of question that could distract me, and I’m glad Classic asked it. He seems to understand me more than anyone else ever had. Except maybe Blooky, but they’re not here. 

“I-I do, Classic.” I babble. “I feel as if we’ve always understood each other. Even before coming here, we did. Keep too…” I lower my voice, in case the shattered robot overhears us. “I think he’s just denying that he’s like us. He’s not a good king. Queen Toriel… she would be ashamed of him.”

“Queen Toriel?” Classic asks. “We had a King Asgore. Toriel was his wife. Now they’re back together after years of separation.”

“We… we also had a King Asgore before he and Toriel parted ways.”

Classic chuckles. Again, very forcefully.

“If we ever get out of here, your universe will be the first one I visit. I can’t wait to meet your cousin.”  
“You know…” I blush again, instantly covering my face. “You remind me… of him.  A bit, at least.”

“Do I, darling?” they chuckle. “Is it a good bit, at least?”

“Well, I suppose.” I tangle my fingers embarrassedly. “It’s your confidence, mostly. And your willingness to be a beacon for us. To support us, like a star does. I… really appreciate it. You give me hope.”

Classic smiles again. This time, it feels less strained. 

“Now rest, darling.” he whispers. “Tomorrow we’ll try again. For Keep. For ourselves.”

He holds my hand in his. It feels warm and solid. Like Blooky’s. 

I close my eyes, feeling thankful. 

 

**???**

Napstablook leads me through the darkness. Climbing the walls of the fortress wasn’t as hard as they expected, but my artificial muscles still ache. I conceal it with a grin. I hope they don’t notice it. They hate it when I distract them on a mission.

We’re fast, silent and perfectly invisible. It’s quite ironic that two robots who’re almost twice the size of the regular human manage to be so sneaky. But Blooky is a skilled one. Under his lead, I fear no failure. 

And I will not allow it, because they wouldn’t either. 

“Stay close.” Napstablook whispers. “I can detect them.”

“Your systems are so advanced!” I coo. And they are, they are so advanced they would make me drool if I could. “I am so proud of…”

“SHH.” His hands lands on my face. Chills run down my spine as I feel the thick fake leather of his glove against my cheek. Oh, my systems are beaming. My cousin is perfect and they’re touching me. _No, no. Focus. Don’t disappoint them._

“Nine robots.” he whispers. “My systems never lies. I feel nine robots, next to here. One of them is fighting with death, it seems. Their signal is weak.”

“I so hope he’s not the one we’re after.”

“So do I, my miserable cousin.” they grab my wrist and guides me down the corridor. Doctor Undyne’s Camouflage Magic is still strong, but I don’t know how long it’ll last. We can’t get caught. We’d probably be separated, and the mere thought chills me to my very SOUL. 

I can’t be without Blooky. I need them, and I will make sure they feel like they need me too. 

The cellar is padlocked, two armed men holding huge guns in front of the door. 

“They’re in here.” they whisper. “They think two twats with firearms are enough for us, cousin. Isn’t it pathetic?”

“So, so pathetic.” I’m so excited. We’re getting closer and closer, and if we accomplish out mission, Blooky will be proud of me. We may even party together, enjoying a wild night at Muffet’s or at their resort. That weird bunny monster is so fun to tease, especially with Blooky around. It would be… perfect. I have no other words to describe it. 

When I snap back to reality, I catch a glimpse of Napstablook punching both guards’ chins at the same time with their two hands. They fall to their knees, and on the ground. 

“Bravo! Bravo!” I clap my hands in the silence. 

Napstablook hisses. “Stop acting like a baby and unlock that door.” They pull out a roll of black duct tape, and as I work on the padlocks, they tie the two guards together and blocks their mouths and eyes. 

“They won’t even know what struck them.” they chuckle. “Are you done with that door, you whelp?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” And I open it ceremonially, leading my cousin through. 

The nine robots lie on their mattresses, in a sleep so deep they don’t notice us wandering between them. They’re almost as beautiful as Blooky themselves. One of them has long platinum hair and a delicate pink body. Another is clothed in soft red lingerie, and their four closed eyes shine of melted eyeshadow. Even the broken one at the side of the cellar looks as if had some beauty before.

“Here they are.” Blooky grabs my wrist. “Follow me.”

“Which one do we take?” I whisper.

“The big one.” they answer.

They’re huge. Even Napstablook looks like an imp compared to them. Their four arms, wrapped around their face, are long and reedy, and their thin arms are clothed in red and yellow gloves. Their slender body, covered in dents, scratches and burns, rests on their side and ends with two high-heeled crimson boots. 

“Hold the duct tape for me.” Blooky says. But as they lend it to me, the four reedy arms slowly unwrap themselves from the covered face of our victim. 

Four eyes stare at us in the darkness. 

Then they scream. 


	10. Silver Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who are the new arrivals, and what have they come for?  
> Lust is frightened, Outer is impulsive, Classic has questions, and Swap is taken aback by memories.

**Lust:**

At first, I hear an alarm. Then, as my eyes reconnect to the bleak surroundings of the cell - oh, how I need my glasses - I realize that Fell is screaming into the nothingness. 

A nightmare? I instinctively curl up on the side. Maybe the big guy needs confort, but I’m not sure how, even if I can give it to him. I had my fair share of nightmares since that day, and even before I wasn’t immune. But a part of me thinks that Fell is even beyond my reach. 

A shaking on my sides announces that other robots are waking up as well. I catch a glimpse of Outer rubbing at his eyes, already in battle stance. His presence reassures me. I walk to the wall, my arms in front of my chest. 

“What is it, Fell dear?” Classic’s voice asks. “Are you…” 

But he immediately chokes as he realizes that Fell is struggling against something that’s not there. His screams come off choked, as if someone was closing his mouth with their hand. His arms flail in the air, hitting the nothingness.

“STOP!”

Classic’s leg swings into the air, slamming against something solid. The air in front of Fell glitches and reforms into a tall, dark shape. 

“Look!” Swap screams. “Another one of us!”

Four eyes stare around in the room, searching for something. His right hand, covered by a red leather glove, rubs against his sore cheek. 

“Who are you?” Negative’s faint voice asks.

“Sir! Where are you?” The new arrival screams. They completely ignore us and keeps searching the room with fear-wide eyes.

“Sir?” Classic grits his teeth and launches forward like a cheetah. He and the newcomer vanish in between mattresses, but the screaming and huffing announces that the new robot has been tackled. Tomb moves in their direction, pushing himself towards the same spot. 

“Sir!” the new robot wails. “Sir! Please!”

“Outer?” I ask. My hands have started shaking, and I instinctively hide them behind my back. “We should do something for Fell.”

But just as Outer opens his mouth, a new scream grabs our attention. Fell sits on the ground, his four eyes open agape in an expression of terror, and his right heel pierces through the face of a second new robot. 

“Sir! Are you hurt?” The choked-up voice of the other new arrival is dripping with worry. Classic grunts again, and the sound of a slap follows.

“Sir” is tall, coated in a black leather reefer, with silver hair and a bleeding eye they press gloved hands against. Fell has scrambled towards the wall, covering his face with his four arms. Faint sobs emanate from his figure. 

Waste grabs “Sir” by the hair and slams their head against the floor. The other newcomer screams. Waste slams them again, panting. Fell wails and shudders, but seems to be calming down, and one of his eyes pops from behind the arms, wide, staring at the scene. 

Tomb, now helped by Outer, is holding the shorter robot against a mattress, pressing their face against the fabric. Classic and Waste lean on the other one.

I push myself away from the wall and aim for where Classic is: “Do you think -they- heard us?” 

“Nah. They’d already be there, darling.” He offers a hand to Fell, who eagerly grabs it.

“Sir” lays on the floor. Oil leaks from their pupil, but a wide smile covers their face.

“Mettaton? Where are you? Just grab the package and let’s leave.”

 

**Outer:**

“What package?”

I place my hands on my waist, staring at the white-haired newcomer. Their smug smile fills me with disgust. _Who are they? What do they and their peer want from us? From_ Fell _?_

I sit on the mattress next to them and grab their hair. They grunt, scrambling to push my hand away. I slam their head against the floor again. 

“Who are you?”

“Mmh.” They smile at me again. I push my nails inside their skull, making them wail. “You won’t make me talk that easily, starman.” their chuckle. “We won’t be bothering you for long. Let us take the big one, and we’ll be off.”  
“Mmmph”. The other robot screams against the mattress and flails their feet into the air. Tomb pushes his elbow into their back. “MMPH”. 

“Stop that.” Classic orders. He’s livid. “You two. No more headslamming. We’ll not obtain anything by torturing these two.” 

Tomb simply nods, pushing his elbow away. He presses his palms into the other’s back, staring at them. 

“Are you Mettaton?” Waste asks. 

“Don’t answer them.” the silver-haired one yells. “Don’t. Let me handle this. You’ve done enough trouble already.”

The other produces a whine of embarrassment. Now I know I hate them even more. 

“Fell, darling, would you come here?” Classic asks. I stare at the four-eyed giant, wondering if he’ll break down. He gets up shakily and moves towards Classic, stopping at a fair distance from Silver Hair. 

“Do I hold them?” he asks confusedly.

“Please.” Classic says. “If you need to recover, we’ll give you time.”

“Mh… no, no.” Fell rubs his hands on his face. “I can help. Maybe. Just a bit, to make you content.” he blinks. He’s clearly distressed, but it’s possible that Classic made the right choice in having him do something. People trusting him will probably rekindle a bit of his confidence. 

Then, the four-eyed robot grabs the newcomer from behind and holds them in an iron-tight embrace. 

“Dammit!” he grunts. “Stupid, but strong. She told us the truth.”

“Who is she?” Classic asks. A _nd most importantly, how does she know who Fell is and what he’s like?_

“Don’t act like I’ll tell you, pinkie.” they spit. “Just let us go with the big burden.”

Classic lifts his eyebrow. It’s possible that they’ll keep stalling until whenever they want. Was it for me, I’d threaten them directly. But Classic prefers the other way, and I feel like they’re right. 

“Burden, eh?” Classic hisses. “Because calling my friend a burden is surely the best way to endear me to you, darlings.” He caresses Fell’s hair, and the red robot leans against the caress. 

“I know I can be… heavy.” Fell mutters. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not smart… I don’t want to be a burden. I can leave, if you want to.”

“But you won’t.” Classic’s voice is as soothing as silk. “Because you’re not a burden. Just keep holding this newcomer until we have decided what to do. I’ll give you a prize later.”

He kisses him on the cheek. Fell nods, his eyes blocked in confusion and discomfort. But his hold tightens around Silver Hair. 

“Keep choking me.” they spit out. “As if I will speak.”

“Oh, you…” I tighten a fist in the air and curse my inability to simply throw it it on their face. The newcomer’s smirk is sharp and oozing of confidence. Nothing will come out of this.

Suddenly, a timid voice raises.

“Please. I’ll tell you everything. Don’t hurt my cousin.”

 

**Classic:**

I give Fell a nod of approval and walk towards the mattress where the other newcomer lays. Still held tightly by the combined efforts of Waste and Tomb, they rests their cheek against the mattress’ surface, and has tears in their eyes. 

“I’m not gonna hurt you, darling.” I soothe, moving my gloves to their tearful face. “We just want to know who you are and what you’re here for.”

“Don’t say a word.” the other hisses. “Don’t you dare.”

“I’m sorry, Blooky.” the small robot hugs themselves. “They will hurt you. Let me help.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Silver Hair kicks into the air, and Fell cringes tightening his hold. “It’s an order, Mettaton. Don’t you say another word. They can squish me for what I care: we’ll do what we’re told.”

Mettaton. I tense, trying to keep my focus. There’s another me. No plaques dangle from their neck, but their black coat reminds me of the soldiers that would appear in human black and white movies. Their four eyes blink frantically, letting out a stream of red tears. 

I remember how Fell was crying, when we first met each other. I can hear him grunt from the other side of the room as he tries to hold Silver Hair into place. 

“What did you want from my friend, Mettaton.”  
“We had to.” they babble. “We were commissioned to bring him back home.”

“Who commissioned you?”

“Shut your mouth, Mettaton!” Silver Hair screams.

“A woman.” New Mettaton shudders. “Another Alphys. But she was the Royal Scientist instead of the Captain of the Guard. She said her creation was stolen from her. A tall, stupid and tears-prone robot with four eyes and arms.”

“Mama.”

Fell’s voice sounds absent, his eyes stare at the wall. Silver Hair grunts and pushes against his hold. When I take the first step, they have freed an arm.

“I order you to shut up, you worthless excuse for a cousin.” they roar. With one more push against Fell’s arm, they’re completely freed, and trample through the room where their partner awaits.

“Stop.” My fist reaches them under their neck. New Mettaton wails a tearful “no”. The tall robot falls against the ground, their silver hair scattering against the stoney floor as their head collapses on the floor with a heavy thud. Before they can turn around, my heel is planted in their chest.

“You’re Mettaton, right?” I ask. Silver Hair whines, but I decide to leave them be. 

“Yes, I am.” New Mettaton groans. “I go by he. This is my cousin, General Napstablook of New Home. They’re the most successful Dj the Underground has ever known.”  
I tighten my lips. “Swap?” I ask. “Wasn’t your cousin also a Dj?”

“They were.” Swap answers, fidgeting with their fingers. “We were supposed to be touring together.”  
Fell comes close, hugging himself. “My mom is searching for me?”.

Silver Napstablook whines some more. “You’re,” coughs, “an idiot”. 

I push my heel deep against their metallic skin. 

“It appears to me, darling, that the real idiot is you.” I grunt. “You should learn to respect your cousin before it’s too late. Take it from me: you should.”

I take a deep breath and stare away from them. I wonder where my Blooky is. How much time has passed? They’re probably worried sick, and I can swear right now, that if I had just one possibility of embracing them again, I would take it over anything else. 

But not just Blooky: Alphys’s sweet smile, and Mad’s chuckle, and Undyne’s loud voice, and the chatter of my entourage as they accompany me to work. The noises and pictures of home, that I tried so hard to keep as far away from me in an attempt not to go insane. 

“Classic?” Fell asks. “Do you think they can take me home?”

I turn to him, staring at his tearful yellow eyes. “Why not.”

 

**Swap:**

“Home?” I ask.

If Fell’s “Home” is any close to the way he describes it, I’m not really sure how much I want to see it. But compared to this hell place, even the Fell Underground appears like a warm beacon. 

“How did you come here?” Classic asks the new Mettaton. He slowly sits on the mattress, hugging himself.

“If I tell you… will you let go of my cousin?”

His voice is thin and shaky, his eyes are red. I instinctively sit next to him and caress his back. 

“Of course we will.” I whisper. “We truly mean no harm. I too have a cousin named Napstaton you know? He was a Dj like him. He had blue hair and the biggest smile you’ll ever see. I miss them so much.”

The new Mettaton’s eyes widen. A faint smile forms on his metallic mouth. “You probably don’t love them the way I do with mine.”

His words chill me. I scoot away and turn to the wall. Groans from a nearby bed announce us that Keep has woken up. Negative sits next to him, holding his hand and shushing him gently. I decide to meet him. This new arrival scares me. 

 _I probably don’t love them the way he does._ Is that why Blooky hasn’t searched for me yet? Classic would want me to stay faithful and think that, simply, they just can’t find me. That he’s pressuring Dr. Undyne and Captain Alphys to tense the searches in every direction. But a part of me knows that it’s but an illusion.

“How’s he?” I ask. Negative moves his long hair away from his face.

“He slept a bit.” he answers. “He got weaker, though. Maybe a doctor could help him more than I can.”

He looks away for a moment, then forces a new smile on his face.

“But he’ll pull it through. Keep is a toughie. And when he will, I’ll give him so many drawings of royals and carriages.”

I sit against Keep’s mattress, trying to focus. Despite his name, Negative’s positivity seems to be never ending. Maybe there’s something I can learn from him.

Maybe Blooky awaits me, after all. And we will find each other, in this world or another.

I try to lose myself in these thoughts, wrapping myself in my cardigan. _Blooky_ … their name is but a memory, but bright enough to occupy most of my mind. I was to follow them in New Home, and sing his songs for Queen Toriel in person. Instead, I don’t even know where I am. I pray I haven’t disappointed them. That wouldn’t probably be the first time. 

I close my eyes and begin humming one of the Spooktunes I composed. The story of two lovers kept apart by fate, who eventually meet up in their dreams when nothing else can connect them anymore. Blooky used to love my voice. Maybe Keep will enjoy it too. 

And when I stare at him when the song is done, he appears to have fallen into a peaceful slumber. Negative smiles at me. “It was lovely.”

Before I can thank them, Waste runs towards us. An expression of excitement fills his face. His four eyes glisten like fireflies. 

“Maybe… maybe we found a way out.”  
Negative gasps behind my back. I bring my hands to my face. _Home. Blooky. Undyne._

“How?” my voice mutters. Waste grabs my wrists in excitement. “The new guests. They have a device that can take us away. We’ll go to Fell’s place.” He cringes. “Maybe it’l not be the best, but…” He shrugs playfully. “Anything is better than here.”

He helps me up and I stumble to the middle of the room. Silver Napstablook lays on his side, bound and gagged with so much duct tape he looks like some kind of twisted branch. The new Mettaton, his hands tied behind his back, sits on a mattress. 

Classic turns to me and the other three with glistening eyes. 

“We’re out of here, darlings. We’re free.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the FellSwap AU, check out this link: http://blackggggum.tumblr.com  
> And yes, by the way: the next chapter will have at least some Underfell.   
> As usual, thanks a lot for following me through this crazy adventure.


	11. "When you saw me first"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FellSwap is regretful, Negative feels safe, Fell meets two old faces and Lust gets to know a world worse than his own.

**FellSwap** :

I’m not known for crying. 

I know for a fact that Blooky wouldn’t tolerate seeing me crying. They’re stronger than me. They’ve always been, since we were small ghosts. They know more things than I’ve ever known. And they can face anything with no fear. 

That’s what I always wanted to be. Strong. Unfeasible. 

Their stare of disdain through the lenses of their glasses pierce through my school. I feel so cold, but my face burns for the tears. 

How could I ruin this for them? I could sink very low, I have done it before. But not like this. Never like this. 

I can’t even look at them as the nine androids in the room lift us both up and grab us from the back of our neck. I’m shaking. Blooky knows. Blooky has seen that I’m not worthy. 

They are struggling from under the duct tape, but the robot holding them, the big one with four arms, is strong enough to placate their movements. 

And wasn’t it for me, we could have caught him, and we wouldn’t be in this situation, and… oh, dear. I can’t stop crying, can I?

_Blooky_ …

“How does this work?” he says. I notice he holds in his hands the device that brought us here. A fine work by Dr. Undyne, a sleek red tablet the size of a notebook, with a touch screen covering its entirety. And now they have it.

She’s gonna get mad to, is she? And I deserve it all. Tears fall into my mouth, and fill it with their disgustingly sweet* taste.

The device has a fixed code, that will lead us to the place our four-armed objective comes from. According to the notes by Dr. Gaster, it’s called “Underfell”. Then, it was to lead us back home. Me and Blooky. To celebrate the mission being accomplished.

Except it’s not. Because I’m stupid and I can’t stop crying. 

A creaking noise behind me tells me that something has been lifted up. I see the remaining five robots holding a mattress where the injured one lays. The blue one from before. White hair, chest-length. Black hair, a small bowtie above their cuirasse. Black hair, cracked mouth and a crest covering one eyes. Black hair, a pink cardigan and a black scarf around their neck. They’re the ones I focus on the most. We look so… alike. A part of me wants to really visit wherever they come from. But the main parts of me only want to cry and beg Blooky for forgiveness. 

The injured one moans. “Don’t strain yourself, darling.” White Hair whispers in a saccharine tone. “Soon we’ll find healing.”

My robotic vision catches a name on the plaque around his neck. “Negative”. Wow, talk about juxtaposition. I wonder what it would say about me. 

A black warp opens in front of us. The pink robot has turned on the Universal Remote. I see him stagger back, his hands shaking. 

“Woah…” Blooky’s captor moans. 

“Is there really home behind this door, Classic?” Scarf asks confusedly. Wait, no. It’s Swap. Swap. I’m so curious now… 

“I hope so.” Classic turns to us. “I don’t really know. But we can make it through. We’re killer robots, after all. We have defeated these guys… is there really anything we can’t do?”

Blooky grumbles from under the gag. I expect another stream of tears to fall, but for some reason, I don’t want to cry. I feel… intrigued.

There’s something warm about this new robot. Homely. I don’t know how he even does it. Maybe there’s just something about stars that inspires us to follow them whenever and wherever they want it. To trust them. To eat up their words and believe them instinctively.

If that’s so, why doesn’t Blooky ever give me this warmth?

I hope they never find out I’m thinking this. They’d hate me even more than now. 

 

**Negative:**

From the back of the mattress, I see Keep sleeping and groaning on it. 

_Poor thing_. 

My hands shake around the mattress, and I try my best to hide it. It would be rude to ruin such a great moment. Or even worse: hurt Keep. 

“I’ll go first” Outer says. He steps into the warp, carefully. 

And then he’s gone.

“Classic?” I ask. Something tells me things won’t go as well as we want them to. But they can’t. I have to see mama again. I have to say sorry for having disappeared so long. 

“Yes, darling?”

“Will I go home? The Festival must be over now. Mama will be missing me.” 

He shakes his head, a sad smile on his perfect lips. “I’m sorry, dear. Not now. Not yet. Your mama will have to be patient, like all of ours.”

I sigh, lowering my head. A crown of white hair surrounds my face. I’m the only one in this room that has them of this color, and come to think of it, I’m beginning to feel out of place. Like I should cut them or something. 

Outer’s head appears from the warp. It looks like a cut through thin air, with the face of a single robot popping through. Outer pushes away his single gold strand of hair and smiles at us. Oh, what a welcome sight. Smiles are very uncommon in the underground. And mama… I don’t think I’ve ever seen her truly smile at all. All she does is grin and chuckle, but she doesn’t sound like she’s actually smiling. 

I always wanted to be the one she gave her first smile too. 

After all, she’s my mama. 

“It’s safe.” Outer says. “Let’s move before they find us.”

And off we go: Outer first, and then Fell and Waste with their prisoners, and the four of us with Keep, and Classic goes last, looking behind us.

The cut closes itself like a tent. A stage curtain, if you will. 

And we’re free.

Keep grunts in pain. Fell whimpers joyfully.

“Are we…?” It’s Lust. I can’t see his face from here, but his tone is all I need.

Safe. The word he’s looking for is safe. The area we’re in is dark, coated in a red gloom similar to lava. No environment, no background of any kind. Not even a sound. 

Are we safe, after all?

A moment later, the darkness that engulfs us turns into a flash of blinding white lights. It takes me all of my robotic strength not to drop Keep’s mattress. 

Silver Hair Napstablook grunts something. The new Mettaton is sniveling. Weren’t my hands stuck on Keep, I’d give them both a hug. Maybe the new Mettaton would like a drawing. Yellow jellyfish are bound to make anyone feel better. 

Then, the light fades away, and a cold wind brushes on my body.

“It’s freezing!”, Waste exclaims. 

The place we’re in is covered in snow. But it’s not the snow I’m used to. It’s yellow, like a rotten lemon, sticky, and thick branches of thorns pop up from its cold surface. The trees don’t look right either. They’re so thin and rotted they look as if they could fall off at any moment. Even the green on their branches looks bitter.

No monsters seem to be around. But from afar, behind the curtain of sickly vegetation that surrounds us, someone is screaming and begging for mercy. Another voice lets out a chuckle as the noise of a magic beam pierces the silence.

“Did you hear it?” Swap asks, visibly flustered. 

Before I can console him, a gasp pops up. Fell is looking around, his hold still tight around Silver Hair’s wrists. His mouth is agape, his fingers look rigid. 

He stares at us with four shiny, ruby eyes. 

“Home.”

 

**Fell:**

Home. I am home. I am home.

I need to sit down and process this. I am home. To my mom. To Blooky.

To Boss… oh, where is he? I heard his laughter from behind the trees. What if he does find me? I am not supposed to be here. He wanted me to leave, and now I’m back. What if her hurts my friends? What if her hurts…

My knees buckle, and the cold embrace of snow greets my thighs. Mom won’t be happy. She knows how dirty the snow is around here. I have to stay clean to make her content. 

Silver Hair falls into the snow as well, but because of the duct tape around their legs, they cannot run far. 

“Sir!” New screams. “Let me help them! Please! You had us, now send us back home.”

“We are not going to do that.” Classic quips. He walks to Silver, pushing his heel into their back. “Not until we figure out how to get home ourselves.”

Silver grumbles as he struggles to no avail. I look away. It reminds me of the last time I was tied up like him.

And the person who did this to me…

“Guys!” I exclaim. “Boss. He could be around here. We have to leave. He’s dangerous. He kidnapped me, he…”

Oh… why is everything so blurred. What are those black dots I see? 

Why do I feel so heated up in the snow?

I see someone walking towards me. And I now realize why I feel so weak.

“Is that…”

Run, a voice says. Run. But my legs give in, and I fall face first into the snow.

Boss runs towards me, his Dog chasing suite.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

His hand… his black leather glove wraps around my face. I know this touch like my very own. It means trouble. It means pain, and beatings, and the cold of the shed. And Mama’s rage and disappointment. 

“Not even by having people take you away, we can get rid of you.” Boss spits out. I can’t speak. I can’t even look at him. I can’t do anything except shake.

“Do we have to kill you, Mettaton?”

“Boss could crush that ugly face of yours in no time.” Sans adds in. “He has a heel for this sort of thing.”

“Shut up.” Boss grunts, giving a light smack to his brother. “No puns in my presence.”

“Hey!”

I immediately perk up. Classic’s voice. 

He’s next to me, one hand on my head, the other aimed at Boss as if he could shoot from his cannon. 

“Do you want me to blast you off into next Thursday, you rotten excuse of a skeleton?”

Boss’ jaw, quite literally, drops.

“Another one?”

The Dog is also confused: “Boss, how many freaks are there?” 

One moment later, I see a pink boot reaching Boss’ face. I hear a crack, and a shriek coming from the Dog. 

Boss lays in the snow, an arm away from me, facedown. His scarf has come undone, and waits limp a few inches away from his face. The Dog steps back, gasping.

Oh, dear.

Now I’ve done it. He’s mad, and he’ll take it out on me. I know it. That’s what he does. That’s why it’s impossible for me to fight back with this man. 

Boss scrambles to get up from the snow. Maybe I should help him.

But before I can get up, I feel my head spinning, and a coat of blinding white buries me. 

 

**Lust:**

I thought my Papyrus was the worst: I couldn’t have been more wrong. 

The black-cloaked sadist is helped up by his brother, and angrily grabs his scarf from the snow. Classic towers over him in a battle stance, one eye stuck on Fell. 

“Look at this.” He grunts, shaking his brother like a rattle. “That vermin ruined my battle body.”

“He deserves a punishing, doesn’t he, Boss?”

“They all do.” Papyrus wraps back his scarf and shivers.

“You shouldn’t wear that.” Negative intervenes. “It’s wet and cold. You should wait until it’s dry.”

Papyrus simply lifts his index finger. One moment later, a wall of glowing crimson bones surround us all. Only Fell, still laying down, is free. 

“Waste!” I gasp. His hand wraps against mine. I’ve never fought before, and tight places… they don’t bring in good memories out of me. 

It’s fine. It’s fine. I’m not alone. Papyrus is. If this Sans is any similar to the one I know, he won’t represent an obstacle.

But then, Outer shoots a bomb on 

“What if I had more than one toy, eh, bro?” Papyrus asks. “Six, seven… nine. Ten robots for me to play with. The four-armed freakshow can just go die in the snow. I never wanted him anyway.”

Toy? What does he mean? It’s hard to keep in mind that not every place is as lust-obsessed as the one I come from. And if the “Fell” sculpted on the plaque the passed-out robot wears is any indication of what this place is about, it’s not hard to see that we’re in dangerous. Waste’s hold shakes. 

“T-Then…” Fell grunts. He hasn’t even removed his face from the ground. “Why do you always take me away, a-and lock me into your shed, and…” His big shoulders shudder. He’s crying. “And t-tell me what to do?”

He turns around, laying on the side. Tears stain his face, red and thick. “If you have to kill me, you must have done it before. When you saw me first.”

Papyrus walks back to Fell, his high heels digging holes into the snow. Sans licks his lips. “You should keep your eyes open, robo-pals. My bro is about to pound that freak into the ice.”

Papyrus grabs Fell’s hair, ripping a squeak and more tears from him. “So, is it what you want?”

“No!” Fell sobs. “I can… I don’t know. Leave me alone, please. I know I am a mistake. I never asked to be made. But I beg you, don’t hit me.” He sobs loudly. “I want to see my mama. I want to go home. She will be mad if I get hit.”

“Stop whimpering.” Papyrus slaps him loudly and smacks his head on the ground. 

“Stop!” Outer orders. “Let him go!” Classic adds. He pushes against the bones, his fingers tightening. He cringes in pain. When his gloves catch on fire, I stagger back and hold Waste’s hand tighter. But he pushes onward, the bones slowly opening like a gate. 

“Sans.” Papyrus orders. “Make them stop. I have to show this wretch what I mean when I say I don’t want him around.”

“Relax, bro.” he chuckles. “You missed him, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t.” Papyrus screams. “He shouldn’t even exist. He should die, die, die!”

He smacks him again and kicks his chin with his knee. 

And it’s at this moment that the bone barrier breaks. Classic throws away his burned gloves, briefly grabbing a lump of snow for his steaming hands. But as he turns around for a moment to check on us, we fully see the anger on his face.

Even Keep, from his stupor, seems to twitch in his direction as he cartwheels in the snow and lands in front of a stunned, visibly pained Papyrus. His still hot hand moves to the skeleton’s throat and grabs it tightly. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This new The Constellation chapter starts a new phase in the plot: the AU juggling. And I couldn't start with anything else but Underfell.   
> My characterization of Sans and Pap wants to be a perfect balance between "sadists" and "goofy cartoon villains", and wants to portray an abusive relationship: hence the way Papyrus insults someone he wants for his own. Fell's backstory will be expanded on in the future.   
> FellSwap's tears are sweet because, being a robot, I assumed that his tears weren't like ours.   
> Thanks as always for being there.


End file.
